REPENTANCE 


BOOKWALTER 


tihvavy  of  Che  trheolo^ical  ^tminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 

"13X9  ^7 '6^' 
.  ~:  3  72  6 


REPENTA 


BY 

y 

LEWIS  BOOKWALTER,  A.M.,  D.D. 

President  of  Western  College 
Toledo,  Iowa 


The  time  is  fullfilhd,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand: 
repent  ye,  and  believe  in  the  gospel.' 

— Jesus 


Dayton,  Ohio 
United   Brethren   Publishing  House 

IQ02 


Copyright  1902,  by  W.  R.  Funk,  Agent 
All  rights  reserved 


INTRODUCTION. 


All  of  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity  are 
vital  and  practical.  Their  relative  importance 
would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  determine.  If 
each  be  vital,  the  question  of  importance  has  no 
place.  Some  of  them,  as,  for  instance,  those 
touching  the  being  and  character  of  God,  and 
some  of  those  touching  the  scheme  of  the  redemp-^ 
tion  of  man,  seem  to  some  minds  abstract  and 
uninteresting.  But  the  subject  of  repentance 
never  has  had  to  argue  its  right  to  be  held  a  prac- 
tical question,  or  to  beg  its  way  to  recognition 
and  interested  attention.  Even  the  light  of  na- 
ture and  the  dictates  of  common  sense  teach  the 
importance  of  the  moral  change  in  human  char- 
acter which  we  designate  by  the  word  "repent- 
ance.'' 

Men  of  the  world  who  are  interested  in  the 


Introduction 

reformation  of  men  and  society,  as  well  as  Jew, 
pagan,  and  Mohammedan,  agree  in  asserting  the 
reasonableness  and  necessity  of  repentance,  so 
that  we  are,  in  a  broad  sense,  setting  forth  an  un- 
controverted  moral  and  religious  principle  and 
duty,  and  not  a  Christian  doctrine  only.  It  is  so 
evidently  and  so  vitally  connected  with  the  plan 
and  method  by  which  any  one  in  the  wrong  may 
get  right  and  stay  right,  that  its  fundamental 
place  in  human,  moral,  and  religious  reformation 
and  advancement  is  recognized  by  all.  True,  not 
every  one  has  sincerely  repented,  but  every  one 
knows  that  he  ought  to  repent ;  and  every  one  who 
has  a  purpose,  however  vague  and  feeble,  to  be- 
come a  better  man,  knows  that  repentance  is, 
on  his  part,  the  step  out  of  sin  into  righteous- 
ness, and  he  counts  on  some  day  taking  it.  So 
thoroughly  has  this  doctrine  become  a  part  of  the 
popular  ethicoreligious  creed  of  our  day. 

Repentance  is,  in  fact,  the  one  chief,  practical 
doctrine  and  feature  of  Christianity  which  so  com- 
mends it  to  a  practical  world.  It  is  a  calling  men 
oif  from  a  life  of  sin  and  wrong-doing  and  a 
starting  them  out  in  a  life  of  right  thinking  and 
doing,  as  relates  both  to  their  God  and  to  their 

i.v 


Introduction 

fellow-men.  The  world  says,  "Give  us  a  practical 
religion."  This  is  just  what  Christianity,  the  re- 
ligion which  preeminently  teaches  repentance,  is. 
This  may  be  the  place  to  say  that  each  doctrine  of 
Christianity,  in  itself,  and  these  doctrines  as  a 
system  of  belief  held  and  taught  by  the  church, — 
all  this  great  body  of  living  truth, — have  but  one 
purpose,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  one  tendency,  too; 
namely,  to  bring  about  repentance,  genuine  heart 
and  life  reformation  in  men  individually,  and  in 
society.  While  it  is  not  my  province  to  enter  the 
general  field  of  the  defense  and  advocacy  of  Chris- 
tian theology,  yet  when  I  am  teaching  and  com- 
mending repentance,  I  am  but  holding  up  to  the 
view  and  the  appreciation  of  men  the  natural 
product,  the  crowning  achievement  of  all  Chris- 
tian teaching. 

The  duty  of  repentance,  it  would  seem  scarcely 
necessary  to  say,  rests  upon  the  one  who  has  known 
repentance  and  a  correct  life,  but  who  may  again 
have  committed  sin,  as  well  as  upon  him  who  never 
has  confessed  and  forsaken  his  sins.  Righteous- 
ness and  sin,  and  peace  and  condemnation,  are  not 
so  much  things  of  yesterday  or  last  year  as  of  to- 
day.   Each  of  us  knows  by  his  own  regretted  ex- 


Introduction 

perience  that  while  the  conscious  rectitude  of  yes- 
terday gave  peace,  the  conscious  wrong-doing  of 
io-day  gives  condemnation.  It  is  now  not  the 
Tighteousness  and  peace  of  yesterday,  but  the  sin 
and  guilt  of  to-day  that  constitute  my  moral  case 
before  the  bar  of  God,  as  well  as  of  conscience. 
^^The  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall  not  de- 
liver him  in  the  day  of  his  transgression.  .  .  . 
If  he  trust  to  his  righteousness,  and  commit  in- 
iquity, none  of  his  righteous  deeds  shall  be  re- 
membered" (Ezek.  33: 12,  13).*  He  has  lost  his 
place  of  innocence,  and  stands  guilty.  To  become 
right  and  again  stand  acquitted  before  God  and 
his  conscience,  he  must  repent. 

In  the  same  paragraph,  it  is  written :  "As  for 
the  wickedness  of  the  wicked,  he  shall  not  fall 
thereby  in  the  day  that  he  turneth  from  his  wick- 
■edness.  .  .  .  If  he  turn  from  his  sin  and  do 
that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  .  .  .  none  of 
his  sins  that  he  hath  committed  shall  be  remem- 
bered against  him."  He  has  become  right,  has 
^Hurned  from  his  sin,"  repented,  and  stands  ac- 
quitted before  God  and  his  conscience.     To  all 

*AII  quotations  of  scripture  are  from  the  American  Revis- 
ion Committee's  edition  of  the  Revised  Version. 


vl 


Introduction 

classes  alike,  in  this  same  message,  the  prophet, 
as  God's  "watchman,"  calls  out,  "Turn  ye,  turn 
ve  from  your  evil  ways."  All  this  is  eminently 
good  common  sense,  good  religion. 

These  are  the  Old  Testament  foundation  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  New  Testament  superstruct- 
ure of  evangelical  repentance  is  reared.  So  as 
to  repentance,  its  duty  and  opportunity  are  held 
out  every  day  to  all  men  alike  who  may  be  under 
the  shadow  of  sin.  Barring  the  one  concerning 
whom  the  Saviour  said,  "Whosoever  shall  blas- 
pheme against  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  never  forgive- 
ness, but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal  sin"  (Mark  3: 
29),  we  may  understand  that  all  who  have  sinned 
may  also  repent  and  be  forgiven,  for  says  Peter, 
Second  Epistle,  third  chapter  and  ninth  verse, 
''The  Lord  ...  is  longsuffering  to  youward, 
not  wishing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all 
should  come  to  repentance." 

It  may  be  said  that  it  is  natural  to  men  to  re- 
pent, just  as  it  is  natural  to  men  to  pray.  We  are 
nowhere  else  so  "fearfully  and  wonderfully  made" 
as  in  our  moral  and  religious  nature.  This  is  the 
essential  characteristic  of  our  being;  this  is  our 
crowning  greatness;  this  constitutes  our  sonship 

vii 


Introduction 

of  God.     Said  David,  when  singing  Jehovah's 
glory  and  man's  dignity  (Ps.  8 :  5) : 

"For  thou  hast  made  him  but 
little  lower  than  God, 
And  crownest  him  with  glory 
and  honor." 

But,  alas,  we  are  spoiled  by  sin.  We  find  our- 
selves in  our  innermost  nature  in  constant  moral 
struggle.  Paul  describes  every  man  in  his  natural 
state  and  experiences  thus,  in  Romans  7:19-24: 
"For  the  good  which  I  would  I  do  not:  but  the 
evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  practice.  But  if 
what  I  would  not,  that  I  do,  it  is  no  more  I  that 
do  it,  but  sin  which  dwelleth  in  me.  I  find  then 
the  law,  that,  to  me  who  would  do  good,  evil  is 
present.  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after 
the  inward  man :  but  I  see  a  different  law  in  my 
members,  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind, 
and  bringing  me  into  captivity  under  the  law  of 
sin  which  is  in  my  members.  Wretched  man  that 
1  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of 
this  death?"  Here  is  our  moral  nature  realizing 
its  bondage  to  sin  and  longing  for  deliverance.  I 
have  said  that  it  is  natural  for  men  thus  to  seek 
deliverance  from  sin,  from  its  slavery  and  con- 

viii 


Introduction 

demnation.  I  do  not  mean  in  this  to  say  that 
every  man  will  seek  and  find  divine  deliverance 
from  sin  by  repentance,  but  that,  at  some  time 
and  likely  at  multiplied  times,  there  will  come  to 
his  soul  impulses  to  a  better  life.  The  ear  of 
man's  soul  is  not  deaf  to  the  higher  voices,  nor  his 
spiritual  eyes  blind  to  the  visions  of  better  things. 
This  is  natural ;  this,  every  one  of  us  will  say,  is 
his  own  experience. 

Now  the  question  arises,  Why  do  not  men  listen 
to  and  obey  these  higher  voices,  follow  "the  law 
of  God  after  the  inward  man,"  and,  by  God's  help, 
break  away  from,  or,  rather,  as  Paul  puts  it,  ac- 
cept "deliverance  out  of  the  body  of  this  death"? 
Let  the  unrepentant  man  answer  this  question, 
and  let  him  look  about  sincerely  and  carefully  for 
his  reason  before  he  returns  the  answer.  The 
reply  he  gives  is  a  very  humiliating  one;  it  is  a 
confession  made  in  shame  that  he  has  chosen 
rather  to  listen  to  the  lower  voices  and  to  follow 
the  *^aw  in  his  members,  warring  against  the  law 
of  his  mind  and  bringing  him  into  captivity  under 
the  law  of  sin." 

Now,  the  call  and  promise  of  the  gospel  to  "re- 
pentance unto  life"  is  the  Divine  coming  to  the 

is 


Introduction 

help  of  the  best  there  is  in  the  human,  that  men 
may  turn  from  this  conscious  slavery  to  choose 
and  achieve  the  freedom  which  is  freedom  indeed. 
To  follow  this  noble  impulse  of  our  nature  and 
obey  the  voice  of  God  is  the  grandest  act  of  the 
human  soul.  I  believe  that  every  true,  candid 
man  will  agree  that  in  this  very  act  we  see  our 
better  human  nature,  our  own  selves,  at  the  high- 
est point.  Proud  and  vain  men  affect  to  despise 
the  humility  that  is  at  the  root  of  repentance ;  but 
it  is  vanity  that  is  shameful,  while  humility  is  one 
of  the  noblest  traits  of  a  great  character,  and  is 
at  the  foundation  of  everything  that  is  really 
great  and  honorable  in  man.  Eepentance  is  the 
proud  struggle  of  the  sincere  soul  against  sin, 
and  its  triumphant  rising,  by  divine  help,  into 
purity,  peace,  and  the  dignity  of  noble  character. 

The  doctrine  of  repentance  may  not  be  as  thor- 
oughly comprehended  as  it  is  universally  held  in 
favorable  thought;  it  evidently  is  not.  But  it  is 
matter  for  gratification  that  men  are  open  to  an 
unprejudiced  hearing  of  its  claims,  and  so  open 
to  conversion  to  the  high  ideals  of  true  Christian 
repentance  as  set  forth  in  Scripture,  and  as  held 
by  all  who  have  themselves  become  the  subjects 


Eepentance 

of  true  repentance,  and  are  seeking  to  bring  all 
men  to  a  like  experience.  It  shall  be  the  aim  in 
the  treatment  of  the  subject  which  follows,  to 
place  it  before  the  minds  of  all,  and  especially 
those  who  may  not  yet  have  turned  to  righteous- 
ness, in  such  way  as  to  set  forth  its  true  meaning 
and  supreme  importance,  and  to  lead  those  under 
sin's  dominion  to  repentance  and  a  godly  life. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Pagb 

Reasonableness  and  Importance  of  Repentance  Generally 
Acknowledged— Fundamental  in  Human  Reformation 
and  Advancement— The  Practical  Feature  and  Crown- 
ing Achievement  of  Christianity— Obligatory  Upon  All 
—Forgiveness  in  Every  Case,  Rare  Exception  Named 
by  Christ— Natural  to  Men  — Paul's  Statement  of  the 
Heart's  Struggle— Why  Many  Hold  on  to  Sin— Repent- 
ance a  Great  Act,    -         - iii 


CHAPTER  I. 
Definition  and  Nature  of  Repentance. 

Primary  Meaning  of  Greek  Word  — Related  Ideas  Intro- 
duced—Citations of  Scripture— Final  and  Popular  Mean- 
ing of  Repentance— Definition  of  "  Shorter  Catechism  " 
—All  Elements  Traced  in  Parable  of  Prodigal  Son  — 
Its  Radical  Character— Timothy  Dwight's  Statement 
of  It, 17 

Iti  Mental  Reach— A  Change  of  Beliefs— Relation  of  Creed 
to  Deed— Christ  Quoted— Meaning  of  the  Conversion  of 
Heathenism  — Paul  at  Athens  — Importance  of  Solid 
Foundations  and  Immovable  Convictions,  -  -    25 

xii 


Table  of  Contents 

CHAPTER  II. 

Constituent  Elements  Furtheb  Considered. 

Sorrow  for  Sin  Against  a  Loving  Father  a  Prime  Element 
—  Love  of  God  tlie  Gospel's  Ctiief  Winning  Element— 
Proflered  Forgiveness  the  Creator  of  Repentance  — 
Expressed  in  Fanny  Crosby's  Verses  — As  Stated  by 
Phillips  Brooks  — Same  Thought  by  Joseph  Cook  — 
Philobophical  Setting  by  Professor  Mackenzie,   -  -   30 

False  Conceptions:  Not  Fear  of  Punishment,  or  Sense  of 
Shame,  or  Remorse  —  Illustrations :  Judas,  Felix,  Sur- 
face Resolves  to  "Do  Better"  — Must  be  a  Sense  of 
Heinousness  of  Sin  — Place  of  Fear  of  Punishment- 
Thoughts  of  God,  as  Sin-Punishing  and  Sin-Pardoning 
—The  Double  Message  from  the  Cross  of  Justice  and 
Grace— Moody's  Favorite  Text— Sinnerhood  of  Man  Met 
by  Saviourhood  of  Christ,         -  -  -  -  -    36 


CHAPTER  III. 
Fubther  Consideration  of  Prime  Elements. 

The  Part  of  Confession :  Scripture  References— Moral  Value 
—Scriptural  Examples— Inseparable  from  Repentance- 
Insisted  Upon  by  Christ,  .  -  -  -  - 


42 


Relation  of  Faith:  Paul's  Teaching  —  Faith  in  Christ  — 
Peter's  Preaching  —  Saved  by  a  Divine  Person,  Christ 
the  Way, 47 

Relation  to  Reformation:  Paul,  "Putting  Away"  and 
"Putting  On"— Old  Man  and  New  Man  — Sin  to  be 
Hated— Joseph  Parker's  View— Extends  to  All  Known 
Sin— John  Bunyan  Quoted —"Abstaining  from  Every 
Form  of  Evil," <9 

xifi 


Table  of  Contents 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Cardinal  Character  of  Repentance. 

Its  Prominence  in  Scripture— Some  Doctrines  Gotten  by 
Inference  and  Evolved  Through  the  Ages;  This  Taught 
Directly  and  Is  as  Old  as  Religion,    -  -  -  -    56 

Old  Testament  Teaching:  Solomon's  Dedicatory  Prayer, 
the  Prophets— Old  Testament  Examples:  Job,  David,  -    57 

New  Testament  Teaching:  A  New  Viewpoint,  Theater  of 
Religion  Transferred  from  Outward  Observance  to  In- 
ward Life— The  Occasion  Not  Particular,  but  Universal 
in  Moral  Attitude  and  Condition— All  Have  Sinned  — 
The  Gospel's  Proposition— Repentance  the  Key-note- 
Scripture  Record:  John  the  Baptist,  Jesus,  the  Twelve, 
Peter  at  Pentecost,  Paul  —  Repentance  the  Great  End 
Sought  in  All  the  Great  Truths  of  Religion  — Is  the 
Theme  of  Embassadors  of  the  Kingdom  for  Sixty  Gen- 
erations, and  to  be  Preached  Around  the  World,        -  60 


CHAPTER  V. 
Foes  of  Repentance. 

Atheism  in  All  Its  Forms  Destructive  of  All  Religion- 
Reign  of  Law  and  Reign  of  God  — Holding  to  Agnos- 
ticism, Religion  and  Repentance  Impossible,      -  -    70 

Effect  of  Underestimate  of  Human  Depravity  and  Over- 
estimate of  Human  Virtue  — Apologizing  for  Sin  as  a 
"Mistake"— Mr.  Gladstone's  Statement,     -  -  -    72 

Culturism  — The  Error  of  the  Pruning  and  Cultivating 
Theory  —  Worship  of  This  Modern  Fetish  —  Gospel  of 
Repentance  and  Gospel  of  Culture,    .  -  -  -    73 

False  Notion  of  Divine  Sovereignty  and  *•  Decrees  "—False 
Philosophy  the  Trouble  — Augustine,  Calvin  — Other 
Rivals  of  Repentance,      -  -  -  -  -  -    75 

xiv 


Table  of  Contents 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Closing  Thoughts. 

Vital  Things  Not  Discussed  but  Understood:  The  Atone- 
ment, Agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Required  of  Every 
Class  of  People,  Is  to  be  Immediate  — Great  Folly  and 
Sin  of  Delay,  -  -  -----    77 

The  Gospel's  Appeal  to  the  Reason  of  Men  — No  Conflict 
Between  Science  and  Religion  —  Eflect  of  Empiricism 
of  the  Recent  Past— The  Spiritual  Again  Coming  to 
the  Front— Words  of  Henry  Van  Dyke  — The  Gospel's 
Strength  Is  Its  Meeting  the  Spiritual  Needs  of  Men  — 
The  Light  Has  Come— The  OflTer  and  Appeal  to  Men  Is 
That  They  be  Set  Free, 80- 


XT 


REPENTANCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Definition  and  Nature  of  Repentance. 

To  understand  the  meaning  of  repentance,  it 
is  necessary  to  note  the  etymology  of  the  word 
itself,  found  in  the  New  Testament.  The  primary 
meaning  of  the  Greek  word,  iiErdvoLa,  is,  after- 
thought, a  change  of  mind  on  reflection.  The 
verb  from  which  the  noun  is  derived  means,  to 
come  to  a  conviction  afterwards;  to  change  one's 
mind  or  purpose.  It  includes  both  the  thinking 
power  and  willing  faculty.  So  that  the  original 
and  literal  meaning  of  the  word  "repentance"  is, 
a  change  of  will ;  and  it  is  important  to  hold  this 
real  root-meaning  in  mind. 

But  the  word  is  generally  understood,  and  cor- 
rectly so,  to  carry  other  ideas  along  with  this  cen- 
tral thought.     Let  us  notice  what  this  broadei 

2  17 


Repentance 

meaning  is,  and  how  it  came  about.  One  of  the 
most  prevalent  conceptions  of  repentance  is,  godly 
sorrow  for  sin;  but,  according  to  Paul,  II.  Cor- 
inthians 7 :  8-10,  sorrow  and  repentance  stand  in 
the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  "Godly  sorrow,"  he 
says,  "worketh  repentance  unto  salvation,  a  repent- 
ance which  bringeth  no  regret."  He  says,  further, 
to  the  Corinthians,  "I  now  rejoice  not  that  ye 
were  made  sorry,  but  that  ye  were  made  sorry  unto 
repentance."  It  is  godly  sorrow  that  brings  men 
to  repentance.  Another  conception  of  repentance 
is  that  it  means  reformation  of  life;  but  in  vari- 
ous passages  of  scripture  repentance  stands  re- 
lated to  reformation  as  cause  to  effect.  In  Acts 
3 :  19,  Peter,  in  his  sermon,  says,  "Eepent  ye 
therefore  and  turn."  John  the  Baptist,  in  call- 
ing upon  the  people  to  "bring  forth  therefore  fruit 
worthy  of  repentance,"  refers  to  a  reformed  life, 
not  as  repentance,  but  as  the  fruit  of  repentance. 
Now  we  see  what  repentance  correctly  defined 
is, — it  is  that  change  of  will  or  purpose  which  is 
caused  by  sorrow  for  sin,  and  which  leads  to  ref- 
ormation of  life;  but,  as  is  so  often  the  case 
with  a  strong,  comprehensive  term,  this  word 
finally    gathered    into    itself    closely    attendant 

18 


Repentance 

thoughts,  and  became  the  popular  and  correct  ex- 
pression of  all  of  them.  So  that,  by  scriptural 
usage  and  in  doctrinal  conception  and  language, 
repentance  embraces  in  its  meaning  almost  all  the 
feelings,  volitions,  and  acts  involved  in  a  sinner 
turning  to  God  and  righteousness.  The  defini- 
tions given  in  dictionaries,  cyclopedias,  works  on 
theology,  and  in  current  literature,  all  agree  in 
their  essential  idea.  Eepentance  is  held  to  em- 
brace, besides  its  divine  elements,  practically  all 
of  man's  part  in  salvation  and  reformation.  It  is 
the  person's  response  to  the  gospel  message. 

In  all  that  has  been  written,  I  do  not  believe 
that  a  better  and  more  comprehensive  definition  of 
true  repentance  can  be  found  than  that  given  in 
the  "Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism" :  "Repentance 
unto  life  is  a  saving  grace,  whereby  a  sinner,  out 
of  a  true  sense  of  his  sin,  and  an  apprehension  of 
the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  doth,  with  grief  and 
hatred  of  his  sin,  turn  from  it  unto  God,  with  full 
purpose  of,  and  endeavor  after  new  obedience." 

In  that  matchless  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,, 
Luke  fifteen,  we  have  pictured,  in  verses  seventeen 
to  twenty-one,  the  son's  return.  In  these  verses 
every  element  in  the  experience  of  a  true  penitent 

19 


Bepentance 

is  distinctly  traced.  Note,  here  are  consciousness 
of  sin  and  want,  sorrow  for  sin,  a  consciousness  of 
better  things,  resolution  of  repentance,  abandon- 
ment of  sin,  return  to  God,  confession  to  him  with- 
out palliation,  unreserved  consecration  to  his  serv- 
ice.   Let  us  notice  these  points  briefly : 

By  consciousness  of  sin  is  not  meant  the  mere 
knowledge  of  it,  but  the  person's  realizing  how 
wrong  and  base  and  baneful  a  thing  it  is,  and 
that  it  is  dominating  and  ruining  him.  "He  came 
to  himself" — a  wonderfully  suggestive  expression. 
He  awoke  as  out  of  an  evil  dream  to  see  what  he 
had  lost  and  to  what  depths  he  had  fallen.  The 
first  step  in  repentance  is  this  coming  to  see  and 
feel  our  real  condition.  The  impenitent  sinner  is 
asleep,  and,  unless  he  awake,  it  will  be  the  sleep 
of  death.    He  must  come  to  himself. 

The  awakened  prodigal  was  not  only  conscious 
of  his  sin  and  shame,  but  he  felt  that  there  were 
better  things  for  him,  and  began  to  hunger  and 
thirst  for  them.  There  was  "bread  enough  and 
to  spare"  in  his  father's  house.  He  was  again 
conscious  of  his  better  self,  and  experienced  the 
awakening  of  ambitions  for  the  higher  and  nobler 
things  of  life.    Sorrow  for  the  folly  and  sin  of  his 

20 


Repentance 

course  is  the  background  which  gives  meaning  and 
pathos  to  all  that  is  said  and  done.  Without  this- 
beautiful  contrition  there  would  not  have  been, 
there  could  not  have  been  the  beginning  or  the 
advancing  on  to  completion  of  this  great  transac- 
tion. 

The  prodigal's  sorrow  is  of  the  kind  which  Paul 
sa^^s  "worketh  repentance/'  and  the  specific  act  of 
repentance  is  now  reached — "I  will  arise."  The 
resolution  of  repentance  is  clear,  deep,  and  final. 
With  all  his  heart  he  determines  to  change  his 
course  of  life.  His  forsaking  of  his  life  of  sin 
is  immediate  and  positive  and  complete. 

The  very  instincts  of  the  true  penitent  direct 
him  where  to  go — "I  will  go  to  m}'  father."  This 
is  the  final,  the  crowning  act,  in  every  penitent's 
life — the  arising  and  going  to  God.  It  is  the 
father,  it  is  God  whom  he  has  offended  and 
grieved,  and  to  him  he  must  go  for  pardon  and 
peace.  In  our  sinning  we  may  wrong  our  neigh- 
bors and  injure  ourselves,  but,  as  Trench  truly 
says,  "Strictly  speaking,  we  can  sin  only  against 
God." 

From  the  lips  of  every  sincere  penitent  flows 
the  fullest  confession  of  his  sins.    "Father,"  says 

21 


Eepentance 

the  repentant  son,  ^'I  have  sinned  against  heaven 
and  in  thy  sight."  How  becoming  and  how  evi- 
dently necessary  this  confession  appears;  and  it 
is  full  and  ingenuous,  right  from  the  heart.  He 
makes  no  defense,  offers  no  excuse.  He  is  too  sin- 
'Cere  for  this;  there  is  no  argument  to  offer.  What 
next  and  last  ?  He  proposes  to  toil  for  his  father 
in  the  field  of  humblest  service.  The  service  of 
God,  in  all  which  that  embraces,  also,  of  serv- 
ice of  men,  is  the  divine  purpose  in  our  crea- 
tion— is  life's  highest  ideal. 

Thus  does  this  parable  teach  us  much  more  than 
the  love  and  forgiveness  of  God.  We  do  not  get 
all  its  meaning  in  the  fatted  calf,  the  ring  for  the 
hand,  the  shoes  for  the  feet,  or  the  feasting  and 
music.  The  other  great  practical  lesson  is  that 
of  the  way  of  the  wanderer  back  to  God,  to  par- 
don, purity,  and  peace.  It  is  the  greatest  lesson 
for  the  race;  and  it  is  put  into  such  living  form 
as  to  make  its  impression  distinct  and  lasting. 

No  one  of  any  nation  or  of  any  generation  can 
mistake  the  meaning  of  the  gospel's  call  to  repent- 
ance. Eepentance  is  not  mere  feeling,  a  thing  of 
words  and  sentiments,  a  temporary  change  in  the 
weather  of  the  soul.    It  is  a  distinct  alteration  of 


Bepentance 

the  focus  of  the  intellect ;  it  is  an  act  of  the  will ; 
it  is  a  transferring  of  the  affections;  it  is  the  joint 
rational  act  of  the  whole  triune  soul — intellect, 
sensibility,  and  will;  it  is  an  abandoning  of  the 
old  path  of  impiety,  error,  and  ruin,  and  a  turn- 
ing Godward,  truthward,  heavenward.  God's 
command  to  repent  calls  to  altered  thought,  al- 
tered love,  altered  life  and  works.  It  is  the  great- 
est interference  that  can  possibly  be  proposed  with 
the  individual's  natural  instincts,  with  habit's  set 
wa}^,  self's  pronounced  sinful  pleasures — with  the 
whole  current  of  life.  It  penetrates  to  where  the 
soul  is  most  sensitive,  to  its  innermost  self.  It 
asks  that  it  make  readjustment,  set  its  house  in 
order,  both  the  things  outside  and  the  things  in- 
side. It  calls  for  the  most  diligent  search  with 
sincere  purpose  to  know  and  to  do  the  right,  at 
whatever  smart  or  pain  or  cost,  for  unless  this  is 
the  spirit  of  the  act,  there  can  come  no  genuine 
alteration  of  purpose,  can  be  gotten  no  divine  help, 
and  there  can  be  no  reformation  and  no  develop- 
ing of  noble  Christian  character. 

The  following  statement  of  repentance  by  the 
distinguished  Timothy  Dwight  is  well  worth  re- 
producing here:     "The  repentance  of  the  gospel 

23 


Repentance 

is  formed  of  the  hatred  of  sin,  sorrow  for  it,  a 
disposition  to  confess  it  to  God,  and  resolutions  to 
renounce  it.  From  this  definition  it  is  manifest 
that  evangelical  repentance  is  the  direct  removal 
of  sin  from  the  soul  of  the  sinner.  By  the  hatred 
of  sin,  which  it  includes  as  a  first  principle,  the 
soul  is  withdrawn  from  the  practice  of  it.  By  the 
sorrow  for  it,  it  is  warned  of  the  danger  and  evil  of 
returning  to  it  again.  By  the  confession  of  it  to 
God  the  soul  is  brought  into  near,  full,  and  most 
endearing  views  of  the  glorious  goodness  of  its 
Heavenly  Father  in  forgiving  its  iniquities,  and 
is  most  happily  prepared  to  watch  and  strive  and 
pray  that  it  may  offend  him  no  more.  By  its  reso- 
lutions to  forsake  it,  the  penitent  is  fortified 
against  future  indulgences,  and  prepared  to  as- 
sume a  life  of  filial  obedience.  In  all  these  things 
we  cannot,  I  think,  avoid  perceiving  that  evan- 
gelical repentance  is  the  direct  and  the  only  means 
of  removing  sin  originally  from  the  heart,  and, 
consequently,  from  the  life  of  a  moral  being;  and 
that  thus  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  prepare  men 
for  obedience  to  the  law  of  God  and  a  general 
conformity  to  his  character  and  pleasure.  To  such 
beings  as  we  are  it  is  therefore  indispensable,  if 

24 


Repentance 

we  are  ever  to  become  the  subjects  of  real  and  en- 
during happiness." 

It  may  be  well  to  notice  at  a  little  greater  length 
the  breadth,  the  mental  reach  of  the  change  con- 
templated in  repentance.  It  sweeps  the  whole 
horizon  of  human  beliefs.  It  means  a  change  from 
error  to  truth,  an  abandoning  of  every  false  doc- 
trine and  embracing  of  the  great  cardinal  doc- 
trines of  Christianity.  Christ  warned  his  disciples 
to  beware  of  the  leaven,  the  doctrine,  of  the  Phari- 
sees. The  repentance  of  a  Pharisee,  then,  evi- 
dently, would  mean,  preeminently,  a  change  of  his 
fundamental  belief. 

It  is  not  infrequently  suggested  that  the  impor- 
tant matter  is  not  what  a  man  believes,  but  what 
he  does.  Says  the  assuming  liberalism  of  the  day, 
'TfCt  us  be  concerned  not  about  creeds,  but  deeds.'^ 
W^iat  specious  reasoning !  As  though  a  man's  be- 
liefs were  not  the  very  molders  of  his  life.  Our 
creeds  and  deeds  stand  related  to  each  other  as 
cause  and  effect.  Says  the  great  Teacher:  "Do 
men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles? 
Even  so  every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ; 
but  the  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit" 
(Matt.  7 :  16,  17) .    There  is  axiomatic  truth  itself 

23 


Repentance 

in  the  saying  of  Christ,  "Ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free"  (John  8 :  32). 
Error  enslaves,  truth  makes  free.  An  individual's 
life  and  a  people's  life  can  rise  no  higher  than 
their  dominating  moral  and  religious  principles. 

The  task  before  Christendom  of  the  conversion 
of  heathendom  is  the  turning  of  them  from  their 
errors  to  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  Paul,  the 
preacher  of  the  ages,  everywhere  presented  to  the 
people,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  called  upon  them  to 
forsake  their  errors  and  embrace  the  truths  he  pre- 
sented. Notice  his  discourse  in  the  Areopagus  at 
Athens.  (Acts  17.)  After  his  skillful  introduc- 
tion, he  says,  "What  therefore  ye  worship  in  ig- 
norance, this  I  set  forth  unto  you."  Having  made 
further  exposition  of  their  error,  and  having  set 
forth  "the  God  that  made  the  world,"  he  says, 
"The  times  of  ignorance  therefore  God  overlooked ; 
but  now  he  commandeth  men  that  they  should  all 
everywhere  repent,"  etc.  The  truth  has  come, 
error  is  seen,  so  the  call — God's  "command" — to 
forsake  the  wrong  and  embrace  the  right,  is  at 
once  given  in  clear,  ringing  notes.  The  believer 
in  false  gods  and  false  philosophies  is  called  upon 

26 


Eepentance 

to  change  his  mind,  to  repent.  Men — "the  world" 
— will  God  judge  in  righteousness,  according  to 
the  new  knowledge  enjoyed. 

What  hope  had  Paul  for  the  Athenians,  unless 
they  could  be  brought  to  a  radical  change  of  be- 
liefs? So  he  dropped  great  seed-truths  into  their 
hearts,  with  the  hope  of  leading  them  to  see  and 
renounce  their  deep-rooted  errors.  Mark,  that  in 
this  matchless  sermon  Paul  says  nothing  whatever 
touching  the  vices  and  abominations  of  the  city, 
seen  on  every  hand ;  nothing  even  against  heathen 
priestcraft  and  impure  worship.  Saint  Paul  was  a 
preacher  indeed — a  master  reformer.  He  knew 
that  truth  expels  error  as  light  banishes  darkness. 
He  was  striking  at  the  center;  he  was  after  the 
fountain-head  of  Athenian  sin — their  beliefs. 

This  is  what  I  mean  by  the  breadth  and  mental 
reach  of  this  question  of  repentance.  It  is,  of 
course,  a  matter  of  deed,  but  it  is  preeminently 
first  a  matter  of  creed.  To  become  a  Christian  is  to 
become  a  believer,  a  thorough  believer  in  its  vital 
truths;  else,  it  matters  not  how  kindly  disposed 
toward  the  church,  the  man  is  not  a  follower  of 
Christ.  "He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me," 
said  the  Master.     The  Mohammedan  believes  in 


27 


Repentance 

Mohammed,  the  Buddhist  in  Buddha,  the  Chris- 
tian in  Christ.  "No  man  can  serve  two  masters." 
Christ  must  be  for  every  one  of  his  servants  "the 
Lord  and  the  teacher"  supreme.  Yes,  repentance, 
conversion  to  Christ,  lays  its  foundation  broad  and 
deep.  Its  essential  character  and  meaning  is  a 
profound  change  from  error  to  truth,  from  the 
wrong  to  the  right,  in  beliefs,  principles,  purposes, 
and  affections.  It  is  a  transferring  of  the  build- 
ing of  life's  moral  and  religious  house  from  the 
sand  to  the  rock. 

The  inquiry  may  well  be  raised  whether  the  un- 
stable life  so  frequently  seen  among  professed 
Christians  may  not  be  attributed  to  their  super- 
ficial repentance.  It  is  impossible  to  develop 
strong,  symmetrical  Christian  life  unless  there 
have  been  received  in  the  heart  the  fundamentalb 
of  saving  truth.  In  the  Christian  life  everything 
is  built  upon  the  foundation  of  deep,  immovable 
convictions,  convictions  which  are  burned  into  th? 
very  soul,  when,  on  its  knees  in  repentance,  and 
close  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  it  "turns  from  dark- 
ness to  light  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God"  (Acts  26:18). 

Believers  who  are  thus  grounded  in  the  knowl- 

28 


Repentance 

edge  and  experience  of  saving  truth  will  stand 
firm  and  walk  erect,  rejoicing  in  their  unshaken 
trust  and  in  their  exalted  privilege  as  "fellow-citi- 
zens with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God, 
being  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief 
corner  stone''  (Eph.  2: 19,  20). 


2Q 


CHAPTER  IT. 
CoN"STiTUEN-T  Elements  Further  Considered, 

Evangelical  repentance,  as  we  now  hold  it  in 
general  conception,  is  surely  not  abstruse  or  in- 
distinct, but  a  clear,  well-defined  thing.  But  we 
shall  be  interested  and  profited  by  looking  further 
at  some  of  its  important  features. 

One  of  its  first  and  prime  elements  is  a  genuine 
sorrow  for  sin  as  committed  against  God;  and 
committed  not  only  against  his  just  laws,  but 
also,  and  especially,  as  committed  in  the  face  of 
his  tender  love  and  continued  benefits.  There  is 
not  only  a  sense  of  sin,  but  also  a  grief  that  the 
sin  has  been  committed  against  so  holy  and  lov- 
ing a  God  and  Father.  The  heart  of  the  peni- 
tent no  doubt  is  moved  and  troubled  from  a  view 
of  God's  justice  and  from  the  dread  of  his  power, 
contemplating  the  consequences  of  sin;  but  as  he 
looks  at  the  long-suffering  mercy  and  the  paternal 
love  of  God,  his  heart  recoils  from  the  principle 

of  sin  itself. 

30 


Repentance 

The  great  winning  power  of  Christianity  lies  in 
its  clear  and  very  impressive  presentation  of  the- 
love  of  God.  The  love  in  the  gospel  is  its  chief 
strength,  its  melting,  persuasive  power.  This  may 
not  appear  at  first  thought,  but  upon  reflection 
each  one  of  us  will  see  that  were  there  no  ^^good 
tidings"  of  proffered  pardon  in  the  gospel  message 
we  would  not  give  it  place  even  in  our  serious 
thought,  much  less  in  the  love  of  our  hearts.  God, 
who  knows  sinful  human  nature,  knows  how  best 
to  appeal  to  it  effectively.  His  plan  is  that  of  a 
father  seeking  to  reclaim  his  wayward  son  by  a 
loving,  pleading  proffer  of  pardon  upon  his  return. 
Offered  forgiveness  is  to  be  the  creator  of  repent- 
ance. It  is 'a  wonderful  proclamation,  and  as  ef- 
fective as  wonderful.  God  commends  his  love  to 
us,  moreover,  by  giving  his  Son  to  die  for  us — for 
us  sinners !  This  breaks  down  the  barrier  of  fear 
and  doubt,  and  implants  hope  in  the  offender's 
heart,  and  also  breaks  his  heart.  Paul  says  that 
the  goodness  of  God  leads  us  to  repentance.  One 
has  put  it  in  strong  and  beautiful  language,  thus, 
"Repentance  is  the  tears  shed  in  view  of  the  cross.'' 
From  the  gospel  is  gotten  the  great  truth  that  to 
forgive  is  divine,  and  from  the  same  gospel  comes 

31 


Repentance 

the  great  truth  to  match  it,  that  it  is  given  to 
human  beings  to  repent. 

How  well  is  the  love  of  Christ  and  its  effect 
upon  a  sincere  soul  expressed  in  the  beautiful 
verses  of  Fanny  Crosby: 

**  Oh,  wond'rous,  deep,  unbounded  love, 
My  Saviour,  can  it  be 
That  thou  hast  borne  the  crown  of  thorns, 
And  suffered  death  for  me? 

"I  kneel,  repenting,  at  thy  feet,     . 
And  give  myself  to  thee; 
I  plead  thy  merits,  thine  alone, 
For  thou  hast  died  for  me." 

Touching  the  influence  which  God's  love  has 
upon  men,  a  distinguished  preacher  recently  said, 
"The  reflection  that  the  moral  rule  of  God  is 
paternal,  that  love  pervades  holiness  as  fire  per- 
meates a  mass  of  molten  matter,  that  the  perdi- 
tion of  a  single  soul  entails  an  irreparable  loss 
xipon  Himself,  to  avert  which  He  exerts  Himself  to 
the  utmost,  is  the  mightiest  of  all  incentives  to 
repentance.  He  is  waiting  and  watching  for  every 
one  of  you,  anxious  to  give  the  signal  which  shall 
make  all  the  bells  of  heaven  ring  out  because  you 
have  come  home." 

The  great  and  lamented  Phillips  Brooks,  in 
speaking  of  the  sacrificial  death  of  Christ  for  man, 

32 


Re  pen  lance 

in  his  sermon  on  "The  Conqueror  from  Edom," 
says :  "My  friends,  far  be  it  from  me  to  read  all 
the  deep  mystery  that  is  in  this  picture.  Only  this 
I  know  is  the  burden  and  soul  of  it  all ;  this  truth, 
that  sin  is  a  horrible,  strong,  positive  thing,  and 
that  not  even  Divinity  grapples  with  him  and  sub- 
dues him  except  in  strife  and  pain.  What  pain 
may  mean  to  the  Infinite  and  Divine,  what  diffi- 
culty may  mean  to  Omnipotence,  I  cannot  tell. 
Only  I  know  that  all  that  they  could  mean,  they 
mean  here.  This  symbol  of  the  blood  bears  this 
great  truth,  which  has  been  the  power  of  salva- 
tion to  millions  of  hearts,  and  which  must  make 
this  conqueror  the  saviour  of  your  hearts,  too,  the 
truth  that  only  in  self-sacrifice  and  suffering  could 
even  God  conquer  sin.  Sin  is  never  so  dreadful 
as  when  we  see  the  Saviour  with  that  blood  upon 
his  garments;  and  the  Saviour  himself  is  never 
so  dear,  never  wins  so  utter  and  so  tender  a  love, 
as  when  we  see  what  it  has  cost  him  to  save  us. 
Out  of  that  love,  born  of  his  holy  suffering,  comes 
the  new  impulse  after  a  holy  life." 

Let  us  have  a  short  statement  of  another  mas- 
ter mind  of  his  view  of  how  men  get  right  with 
God.     Said  Joseph   Cook,  in  his  address  at  the 


Repentance 

Chicago  World's  Parliament  of  Eeligions:  "The 
truly  religious  man  is  one  who  has  ^changed  eyes 
with  God.'  It  follows  from  this  definition,  and 
as  a  certainty  dependent  upon  the  unalterable  na- 
ture of  things,  that  only  he  who  has  changed  eyes 
with  God  can  look  into  his  face  with  peace.  In 
Berlin  University,  I  once  heard  Professor  Dorner 
call  out  to  his  class,  ^The  scientific  truth  of  ad- 
vanced modern  ethics  is  not  so  much  that  man 
has  a  conscience  as  that  conscience  has  man.' 
Shakespeare  said,  Conscience  has  a  thousand 
swords.'  John  Wesley  said,  'God  is  a  thousand 
consciences.'  How  am  I  to  keep  peace  with  my- 
self, my  God,  and  my  record  of  sin,  except  by  look- 
ing on  the  cross  until  it  is  no  cross  to  bear  the 
cross,  except  by  beholding  God,  not  merely  as  my 
creator,  but  also  as  my  Saviour,  and  being  melted 
by  the  vision  and  made  glad  to  take  him  as  Lord, 
also." 

It  will  both  broaden  our  view  of  the  thought  be- 
fore us  and,  I  hope,  reinforce  our  judgment  of 
the  abiding  importance  of  repentance,  to  have  it 
briefly  set  forth  from  the  philosophico-scientific 
standpoint.  In  Book  III.,  Chapter  5,  of  Mac- 
kenzie's "Manual   of  Ethics,"  occurs  this  para- 


Eepentance 

graph:  "The  religious  experience  known  as  con- 
version seems  to  be  a  normal  fact  in  our  moral 
development.  Recurring  to  the  mode  of  expres- 
sion which  we  have  so  frequently  made  use  of,  we 
may  say  that  this  phenomenon  occurs  when  a  man 
is  made  aware  of  a  higher  universe  than  that 
within  which  he  is  living,  and  at  the  same  time 
becomes  conscious  that  that  higher  universe  is  one 
within  which  he  ought  to  live.  Such  an  experi- 
ence occurs  in  its  intensest  form  only  when  the 
higher  universe  that  is  presented  to  us  is  recog- 
nized as  the  highest  of  all ;  that  is,  it  occurs  in  the 
religious  life.  .  .  .  There  is  often  a  violent 
reaction  against  the  past,  a  condemnation  of  its 
acts,  and  even  of  its  ideals,  repentance,  and  re- 
morse.'' 

Professor  Mackenzie  speaks  thus  further  in 
chapter  six,  under  the  head,  "Remorse":  "When 
an  evil  deed  has  been  done,  and  when  the  wicked- 
ness of  it  has  been  brought  home  to  the  actor,  it 
is  accompanied  by  what  is  known  as  the  pain  of 
conscience.  This  pain  arises  from  the  sense  of 
discord  between  our  deeds  and  ideals.  ...  If 
it  is  an  evil  deed  of  any  considerable  magnitude, 
it  is  not  merely  accompanied  by  a  pang  of  con- 

35 


Repentance 

science,  but  by  a  recurrent  and  persistent  sense  of 
having  fallen  from  one's  proper  level.  This  per- 
sistent feeling  of  degradation  is  known  as  remorse. 
In  its  deepest  form,  it  is  not  merely  a  grief  for 
particular  acts,  but  a  sense  of  degradation  in  one's 
Tvhole  moral  character — a  sense  that  one  has  of- 
fended against  the  highest  law  and  that  one's  whole 
nature  is  in  need  of  regeneration.  The  best  ex- 
pression of  this  in  all  literature  is,  I  suppose,  that 
contained  in  the  Fifty-first  Psalm : 

"  'Against  thee,  thee  only  have 
I  sinned. 
And  done  that  which  is  evil 
in  thy  sight. 

Behold,  I  was  brought  forth 

in  iniquity ; 
And  in  sin  did  my  mother 

conceive  me.' " 

N"otwithstanding  the  evident  meaning  of  repent- 
ance, it  is  probable  that  many  persons  think  them- 
selves repenting,  or  would  fain  so  flatter  them- 
selves, when  they  have  no  sorrow  on  account  of  sin 
against  God  and  conscience,  but  on  account  of 
their  fear  of  the  hurt  and  punishment  it  is  likely 


Repentance 

to  bring  upon  themselves.  It  is  not  so  much  sin 
they  hate  as  hell  they  fear.  This,  it  scarce  need 
be  said,  is  not  repentance.  The  criminal  who  is 
sorry,  not  because  he  has  committed  a  crime,  but 
because,  being  caught  at  it,  he  is  to  be  punished, 
would  not  be  called  a  truly  penitent  man.  Here, 
again,  is  a  man  who  is  sorry  for  his  sin  because  it 
fixes  a  scandal  upon  his  character,  or  hurts  his 
business,  or  involves  others  with  him  in  public 
shame.  He  curses  the  day  he  committed  the  crime, 
for  he  finds  himself  disgraced  and  ruined;  but 
all  this  he  may  feel,  and  yet  know  nothing  what- 
ever of  true  repentance.  In  each  of  these  cases  the 
sorrow  for  the  sin  and  the  purpose  to  get  away 
from  it,  all  spring  from  mere  low  self-love.  It  is 
as  selfish  and  sinful  as  were  the  sins  themselves. 

It  is  evident  from  Scripture,  and  is  the  dictate 
of  common  sense,  that  not  a  mere  feeling  of  sor- 
row for  sinful  acts  or  a  sense  of  shame  upon  the 
exposure  of  our  iniquities,  or  the  fear  of  punish- 
ment, or  every  case  of  professed  reformation,  is 
an  instance  of  repentance.  If  bitter  remorse  of 
conscience  and  confession  of  sin  constitute  true 
repentance,  then  Judas  was  a  true  penitent,  for 
he  was  overwhelmed  by  the  sense  of  his  crime.. 

37 


Eepentance 

If  sudden  awakening  of  conscience  and  fear  and 
trembling,  with  some  professions  of  interest  in  the 
things  of  a  better  life,  constitute  true  repentance, 
then  Felix,  the  heathen  governor,  was  penitent  as 
he  listened  to  the  searching  preaching  of  Paul. 
If  the  experiencing  of  one  or  of  several  surfaces 
awakenings  and  temporary  inclinations  to  "do 
better'  were  repentance,  then  all  who  read  these 
lines  have  repented,  for  it  is  not  supposed  that 
even  the  least  pious  of  3'ou  have  been  so  reckless  as 
never  to  have  thought  upon  j^our  religious  duties 
and  interests  sufficiently  to  have  experienced  some 
genuine  concern.  Aye,  I  dare  say  that  some  of 
you  have  spent  anxious  days  and  sleepless  nights 
under  the  lashings  of  conscience  and  the  fear  of 
the  consequences  of  your  sinful  lives.  Yes,  you 
have  even,  at  such  times,  prayed  to  God  to  forgive 
you,  and  have  resolved  that  you  would  reform. 
Are  you  supposing  that  on  these  accounts  you  have 
truly  repented?  In  the  light  of  present-day  con- 
ceptions of  what  constitutes  true  religion,  can  such 
surface  work,  such  mere  tampering  with  the  great 
question,  be  honestly  considered  genuine,  evangel- 
ical repentance? 

True  repentance  is  a  very  different  and  an  in- 

38 


Fk,epentance 

finitely  higher  thing  than  this.  To  reiterate,  it  is 
born  of  a  sense  of  the  heinousness  of  sin  itself. 
The  penitent  feels  that  he  has  wickedly  offended 
God,  grossly  trampled  under  foot  his  just  law,  and 
basely  violated  his  own  conscience. 

It  is  not  contended  that  the  fear  of  punishment 
or  any  other  self-centered  pain  of  heart,  is  not  at 
all  connected  with  true  repentance.  Such  thoughts 
and  feelings,  perhaps,  almost  always  enter  as  sub- 
ordinate ingredients  in  the  awakening  of  the  sin- 
ner to  repentance;  but  they  are  soon  lost  to  view 
because  of  higher,  overshadowing  considerations. 
The  true  penitent  soon  has  come  to  the  place  where 
he  has  lost  sight  of  the  hell  of  the  future  in  his 
keen  realization  of  the  nearer  hell  of  the  present. 
To  have  fully  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  past 
abject  and  degrading  slavery  to  sin  makes  him 
loathe  it.  And  now  being  brought,  also,  to  see 
his  rebellious  attitude  toward  God,  he  becomes 
conscience  of  the  ungrateful,  base  return  he  has 
been  making  to  a  gracious  Father  in  heaven,  and 
he  laments  over  his  course  with  a  deep  contrition 
of  soul.  And  further,  while  his  sense  of  sin  and 
unworthiness  is  the  deepest,  God  extends  to  him 
the  full  and  free  pardon  of  every  sin,  a  pardon 

39 


Repentance 

by  himself  provided  in  the  giving  of  his  Son,  "that 
by  the  grace  of  God  he  should  taste  of  death  for 
every  man"  (Heb.  2:9).  This  "love  so  amazing, 
so  divine,''  wounds  him  to  the  heart,  and  the 
clearer  he  sees  the  "wideness  in  God's  mercy,"  the 
deeper  that  wound  becomes.  God  thus  freely  for- 
giving the  penitent  is  the  reason  to  him  why  he 
should  never  forgive  himself.  He  grieves,  he  re- 
pents, not  because  he  has  been  offending  a  sin- 
punishing,  but  a  sin-pardoning  God. 

It  is  seen  how  that  the  cross  of  Christ  magnifies 
both  justice  and  grace.  Calvary  sends  forth  a 
double  message  to  men,  declaring  with  one  voice 
the  dark  and  dire  character  of  sin,  and  with  the 
other  forgiveness  for  it  and  triumph  over  it.  This 
is  what  makes  it  the  one,  only  place  where  ref- 
ormation can  be  accomplished.  It  is  at  the  cross 
where  every  penitent  kneels.  But  the  higher  note 
in  its  message  is  that  which  proclaims  the  divine 
mercy.  Here  "mercy  glorieth  against  judgment." 
Its  great  purpose  in  the  divine  economy  is  to  show 
that  "where  sin  abounded  grace  did  abound  more 
exceedingly"  (Paul).  So  the  cross  becomes  pre- 
eminently the  expression  of  the  love  of  God  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  death  of  Christ  for  sinful  men ;  and 

40 


Repentance 

that  love  is  for  all  times  and  all  peoples  the  power 
that  turns  men  to  repentance. 

So  did  the  Saviour  himself  declare  when  he 
said,  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw 
all  men  unto  myself  (John  12:32).  Moody's 
favorite  text  was  John  3:16,  "For  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  eternal  life.'^  This  was,  in  fact,  the  kernel, 
the  soul  of  all  that  matchless  preaching  by  which 
he  led  hundreds  of  thousands  to  repentance.  The 
declaration  of  the  divine  Teacher  (John  3:17), 
"God  sent  not  the  Son  into  the  world  to  judge  the 
world ;  but  that  the  world  should  be  saved  through 
him,"  is  the  proclamation  whose  appeal  to  the  head 
and  heart  of  the  race  is  becoming  more  impressive 
and  effective  with  each  succeeding  generation.  In 
it  the  helpless  sinnerhood  of  man  is  met  by  the 
mighty  Saviourhood  of  Christ. 


41 


CHAPTEE  III. 
Further  Consideratioi^"  of  Prime  Elements. 

The  part  confession  plays  in  genuine  repent- 
ance is  worthy  of  special  notice.  At  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  King,  by 
John  the  Baptist  calling  the  people  to  repentance, 
it  is  said  (Mark  1:5)  that  the  people  were  bap- 
tized in  Jordan,  "confessing  their  sins."  The 
Greek  word  used  would  imply  that  there  was  not 
only  a  confession  in  general,  but  a  confession  in 
at  least  some  detail,  a  special  confession  of  definite 
sins.  This  is  indicated,  also,  in  the  narrative,  es- 
pecially as  given  by  Luke,  where  different  classes 
are  represented  as  receiving  special  instructions 
from  John,  suited  to  their  particular  character. 
The  same  thing  is  indicated  in  Acts  19 :  18,  where 
it  is  said  that  in  Ephesus  many  of  "them  that 
had  believed  came  confessing  and  declaring  their 
deeds." 

There  are  numerous  passages  in  the  New  Testa- 

42 


Repentance 

ment  which  incidentally  show  that  in  one's  turn- 
ing from  a  sinful  life,  or  from  any  sin  in  which 
he  had  been  overtaken,  it  was  understood  that  he 
confess  to  God  and  men.  The  necessity  of  con- 
fession had  been  a  maxim  in  religion  with  the 
Jews  for  ages.    Proverbs  28 :  13 : 

"He  that  covereth  his  trans- 
gressions shall  not  prosper, 
But  whoso  confesseth  and 
forsaketh  them  shall  obtain 
mercy." 

x^salms  32:5: 

"I  acknowledged  my  sin  unto 
thee. 

And  mine  iniquity  I  did  not 
hide: 

I  said  I  will  confer  my  trans- 
gressions unto  Jehovah ; 

And  thou  forgavest  the  in- 
iquity of  my  sin." 

So,  in  John's  preaching  repentance,  confession 
was  made  a  prime  part  of  it,  strictly  required  by 
him,  and  as  obediently  made  by  the  repentant  peo- 
ple. 

The  moral  value  of  confession  is  not  to  be  over- 

43 


Repentance 

looked.  It  may  be  asked,  Why  should  confession 
be  required  ?  what  moral  value  is  there  in  it?  God 
"understandeth  my  thought  afar  off/'  what  need 
to  rehearse  my  sins  to  him?  We  may  be  helped 
by  reflecting  that  men,  we  ourselves,  require  those 
who  have  injured  us,  but  now  come  to  be  recon- 
ciled, to  make  confession  of  their  fault.  A  re- 
pentance that  does  not  find  expression  in  acknowl- 
edgement of  the  sin  committed  is  mere  sentiment. 
If  we  shrink  from  doing  this  thing,  our  repent- 
ance is  not  deep  enough  to  be  of  any  moral  value 
to  us.  We  have  not  gotten  the  victory  over  our  old 
master,  sin;  we  are  in  the  same  old  prison,  bound 
by  unbroken  fetters  still. 

Let  us  turn  to  Scripture  for  a  few  helpful  ex- 
amples of  open-hearted,  noble  confession.  In 
Nehemiah  1,  we  have  a  great  man's  confession. 
It  is  a  model,  no  apology,  no  reserve :  "I  confess 
the  sins  of  the  children  of  Israel  which  we  have 
sinned  against  thee.  Yea,  I  and  my  father's  house 
have  sinned."  He  makes  a  clean  breast  of  it,  and 
his  prayer  reaches  the  ear  of  Jehovah.  Note  the 
case  given  by  Christ  of  the  penitent  publican,  who 
"smote  his  breast,  saying,  God,  be  thou  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner.     .     .     .     This  man  went  down  to 


44 


Repentance 

his  house  justified"  (Luke  18: 13,  14).  To  such 
prayers  the  door  of  mercy  is  always  thrown  open 
wide.  The  moral  value  of  a  confessing  repentance 
is  given  us  in  a  very  clear  and  forcible  way  by 
Paul,  writing  to  the  repentant  Corinthian  church 
(11.  Corinthians  7:11),  "What  earnest  care  it 
wrought  in  you,  yea  what  clearing  of  yourselves, 
yea  what  indignation,  yea  what  fear,  yea  what 
longing,  yea  what  zeal,  yea  what  avenging." 

Confession  not  only  gives  assurance  to  men — 
and  let  us  be  allowed  to  say  to  God — of  personal 
thoughts,  feeling,  and  purpose,  but  it  also  gives 
strength  and  permanence  to  the  new-made  resolu- 
tions of  a  better  life.  It  is  very  important  that 
the  man  who,  in  his  heart,  comes  across  the  moral 
line  and  takes  a  stand  for  God  with  his  people, 
do  everything  he  can  to  renounce  the  past,  ^^Durn 
the  bridges  behind  him,"  and  to  intrench  himself 
in  his  new  position. 

Confession  is  inseparable  from  repentance ;  it  is 
the  natural  and  irrepressible  impulse  of  a  truly 
penitent  heart.  It  is  the  past  that  pains  the  re- 
pentant man,  and  he  wants  to  make  it  all  right 
with  God  and  man.  Insincere  people  are  gener- 
ally willing  to  confess  their  sinfulness,  but  not 

45 


Repentance 

their  sins;  but  the  sincere  man  is  not  dodging  and 
tampering,  he  is  acting  the  man ;  he  meets,  and  is 
glad  to  meet  the  issue  squarely.  In  no  other  way 
can  he  stand  in  conscious  uprightness  before  his 
own  conscience,  or  receive  the  pardon  and  approba- 
tion of  either  God  or  men.  So  he  will  soon  have 
found  his  way  to  God  in  prayer,  and  his  offended 
fellow-men  he  will  reach  by  word,  by  letter,  by 
telephone, — some  way, — and  know  the  Joy  of  being 
"reconciled  to  his  brother." 

This  great  principle  is  taught  by  Christ  when 
be  puts  the  law  of  confession  and  forgiveness  be- 
tween man  and  man  thus,  in  Luke  17:  3,  4:  "If 
thy  brother  sin,  rebuke  him ;  and  if  he  repent,  for- 
give him.  And  if  he  sin  against  thee  seven  times 
in  the  day,  and  seven  times  turn  again  to  thee, 
saying,  I  repent;  thou  shalt  forgive  him."  Along 
with  this  confession  of  wrongs  done  our  fellow- 
men  will  naturally  and  necessarily  go  restitution, 
so  far  as  that  is  possible.  Note  what  Zacchseus 
says,  Luke  19 : 8,  "If  I  have  wrongfully  exacted 
aught  of  any  man  I  restore  fourfold." 

Finally,  let  the  importance  and  necessity  of  the 
confession  of  our  sins  in  order  to  forgiveness  be 
judged  by  the  plain,  unmistakable  words  of  Scrip- 

46 


Eepentance 

tiire.  I.  John  1 :  9,  "If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is 
faithful  and  righteous  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and 
to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness." 

The  relation  of  faith  to  repentance  is  so  evident 
that  a  formal  statement  touching  it  would  scarcely 
seem  called  for.  They  are,  in  correct  theory  and 
in  experience,  inseparable.  True  repentance  would 
be  impossible  without  faith.  When  Paul  was  mak- 
ing his  farewell  address  at  Miletus  to  the  elders  of 
the  church  of  Ephesus,  he  declared  that  in  his 
teaching  and  preaching  he  had  been  "testifying 
both  to  Jews  and  to  Greeks  repentance  toward  God 
and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  The 
meaning  evidently  is,  that  in  so  far  as  great  funda- 
mental truths  were  concerned,  he  had  set  forth  re- 
pentance and  faith  as  preeminently  the  means  of 
salvation.  This  is  a  summary  of  the  preaching  of 
Paul,  and  of  all  the  apostles  as  well,  and  is  the 
essence  of  the  gospel  for  all  ages — "Eepentance 
whereby  we  forsake  sin,  and  faith  whereby  we 
steadfastly  believe  the  promises  of  God." 

We  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  faith  is  "toward 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "Jews  and  Greeks,"  all 
the  world,  every  penitent  who  seeks  pardon  and 
salvation,  must  look  to  Christ,  who  said,  '^  am 

47 


liepetitance 

ihe  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life ;  no  one  com- 
eth  unto  the  Father,  but  by  me."  This  expression 
means  so  much,  that  in  the  pardon  and  salvation 
of  a  soul  it  makes  Christ  all.  So  declared  Peter, 
in  his  first  preaching,  "And  in  none  other  is  there 
salvation :  for  neither  is  there  any  other  name  un- 
der heaven,  that  is  given  among  men,  wherein  we 
must  be  saved"  (Acts  4:12).  This  verse  will  bear 
rereading.  Every  word  is  intensely  significant, 
and  the  force  of  the  declaration  is  cumulative.  To 
it  may  be  profitably  added  the  words  of  Peter  and 
the  apostles  before  the  council,  "Him  did  God 
€xalt  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a 
Saviour,  to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and  remis- 
sion of  sins"  (Acts  5:  31).  Yes,  to  the  penitent, 
"Christ  is  all,"  and  faith  and  hope  must  center 
in  him.  He  "was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses, 
and  was  raised  for  our  justification.  Being  there- 
fore justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  (Paul  to  the  Eo- 
mans) . 

Do  we  understand  that  we  are  saved  only 
through  and  by  this  divine  person,  this  God-man  ? 
It  is  not  a  set  of  doctrines,  or  the  sacraments  of 
religion,  or  the  intellectual  belief  in  the  historic 

48 


Repentance 

Christ,  or  anything  we  can  do  or  say  or  believe 
that  brings  us  pardon  and  salvation,  only  as  they 
are  means  by  which  we  are  brought  to  him  who 
"was  manifested  to  take  away  sins"  (I.  John  3:5). 
^^Who  his  own  self  bear  our  sins  in  his  body  upon 
the  tree,  that  we,  having  died  unto  sins,  might 
live  unto  righteousness;  by  whose  stripes  ye  were 
healed"  (I.  Pet.  2:34).  "He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  eternal  life ;  but  he  that  obeyeth  not 
the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abide th  on  him"  (John  3:36).  I  came  that 
they  may  have  life  and  may  have  it  abundantly" 
(John  10:10).  So,  my  unsaved  friend  seeking 
salvation,  your  repentance  must  not  only  be  ac- 
companied by  faith  in  general  in  God  the  Father, 
but  faith  gathered  about  the  Son  your  Saviour, 
"for  him  the  Father,  even  God,  hath  sealed."  He 
is  the  representative,  the  very  personification  of 
God  in  the  scheme  of  salvation;  and  "this  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath 
sent"  (John  6:  29). 

As  to  the  theoretical  side  of  repentance,  what  it 
is  as  an  act  of  the  soul,  and  what  it  aims  to  pro- 
duce in  the  outward  life,  we  are  agreed.  And 
upon  this  point,  also,  I  suppose,  all  will  agree, 

4  4i) 


Repentance 

that  the  final  test  of  the  genuineness  of  repentance 
is  the  effect  it  has  upon  the  life  of  those  who  pro- 
fess it.  Indeed,  we  may  say  that  there  is  no  re- 
pentance at  all  where  there  is  no  reformation  of 
life.  I  believe  we  may  say,  without  modifying 
terms  attached,  that  true  repentance  always  in- 
cludes reformation.  Shakespeare  well  describes 
repentance  as  "Heart's  sorrow  and  a  clean  life 
ensuing."  It  is  a  "ceasing  to  do  evil  and  learning 
to  do  well."  This  may  be  said  to  be  its  practical 
side,  but  it  is  a  side  of  the  moral  octagon  without 
T?hich  it  would  be  imperfect.  To  this  practical, 
visible  side  of  this  greatest  of  human  transactions 
we  will  now  give  special  attention. 

The  scriptures  I  may  quote  are  not  cited  as 
proof  of  the  position  taken,  but  as  inspired  de- 
scriptions or  statements  of  the  great  fact  always 
taken  as  a  matter  of  course.  Paul  tells  us,  in 
Ephesians  4:22-24,  (which  please  read,)  in  a 
unique  and  very  forcible  way,  what  takes  place  in 
the  life  of  the  man  who  becomes  a  Christian.  He 
calls  it  a  "putting  away"  and  a  "putting  on."  The 
change  is  radical,  complete,  and  evident.  It  is  a 
personal,  practical  change,  not  only  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  life,  but  also  and  necessarily 

50 


Repentance 

of  acts  and  habits  and  entire  outward  character. 
Xotice,  it  has  negative  and  positive  sides;  it  is 
quitting  the  bad  and  beginning  the  good.  The 
''old  man"  is  put  off  as  we  lay  aside  a  garment, 
and  the  "new  man,"  in  like  manner,  is  put  on. 
The  old  man  in  the  "manner  of  life,"  which  is 
"corrupt  after  the  lusts  of  deceit,"  is  exchanged  for 
the  "new  man  that  after  God  hath  been  created  in 
righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth."  As  Paul 
puts  it  elsewhere,  II.  Corinthians  5:17,  "If  any 
man  is  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature:  the  old 
things  are  passed  away;  behold,  they  are  become 
new."  The  man  is  new — new  not  only  in  his  view 
of  righteousness,  choice  of  will,  and  affection  of 
heart,  but  new  also  in  words  and  acts — new  inside 
and  outside. 

Another  passage  in  which  the  same  figures  are 
used,  and  the  "old  man"  and  the  "new  man"  are 
described  at  length,  is  in  Paul's  letter  to  the  Colos- 
sians  3:  5-17.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  specific, 
full,  and  significant  statement  in  all  Scripture  of 
what  genuine  turning  to  God  means  in  radical 
transformation,  great  uplift,  and  permanent  en- 
nobling of  character.  Note,  too,  its  wide  sweep, 
"Whatsoever  ye  do,  in  word  or  deed,  do  all  in  the 

51 


Repentance 

name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Its  significance  and 
lesson  are  the  more  impressive  when  we  bear  in 
mind  the  sensual,  base  plain  on  which  the  Colos- 
sians  had  been  living.  The  passage  is  matchless 
as  a  twofold  ethical  picture,  painting  in  colors 
true  to  life  and  fact  the  change  from  moral  mid- 
night to  moral  midday  in  human  character  and 
conduct  wrought  by  evangelical  repentance. 

The  forsaking  of  the  life  of  sin  and  entering 
upon  the  life  of  righteousness  is  not  a  merely 
formal  or  conventional  act,  nor  is  the  living  of  the 
new  life  of  Christian  service  an  easy-going  course 
of  conduct.  The  Christian  life  is  a  most  positive 
and  pronounced  thing  from  its  beginning  to  its 
close.  Among  the  practical  precepts  given  by  Paul 
in  Komans  12,  is  this,  "Abhor  that  which  is  evil; 
cleave  to  that  which  is  good."  Here  we  have  close 
discrimination  and  settled  convictions  called  for. 
And  we  need  this  in  these  times  when  the  spirit 
of  indifference  to  sin  seems  quite  prevalent.  Says 
Joseph  Parker,  of  London:  "Have  we  as  indi- 
viduals and  as  churches  lost  the  true  notion  of 
sin?  Is  it  no  longer  infinitely  abominable  to  us? 
Is  it  toned  down  to  something  almost  indistin- 
guishable ?    We  cannot  be  right  in  our  relation  to 

52 


Repentance 

Jesus  Christ,  we  cannot  be  just  to  his  holy  cross, 
until  we  regard  sin  with  unutterable  repugnance, 
until  we  rise  against  it  in  fiery  indignation,  fight- 
ing it  with  all  the  energy  of  wounded  love,  and 
bringing  upon  it  condemnation  of  concentrated 
and  implacable  anger." 

True  repentance  extends  to  all  known  sin,  with- 
out exception.  All  sin  must  be  repented  of  and 
abandoned.  Every  sin,  whether  it  consists  in  neg- 
lecting a  duty  enjoined  or  in  committing  an  act 
forbidden,  whether  it  be  against  God  or  ourselves 
or  our  neighbors,  whether  it  be  peculiar  with  the 
individual  or  is  his  going  with  the  multitude  to 
do  evil,  whether  it  be  a  so-called  little  or  great 
sin,  whether  it  be  known  to  men  or  only  to  the 
man  himself,  whether  it  be  in  word  or  deed  or 
secret  thought — every  sin,  without  exception,  as 
far  as  it  is  known,  is  hated  and  lamented  and  for- 
saken by  the  truly  penitent  and  reformed  man.  If 
a  professed  Christian  indulges  in  any  one  known 
sin,  however  small  he  may  think  it,  he  is  a  stran- 
ger to  true  repentance.  It  matters  not  how  sorry 
he  may  be  for  other  sins,  or  how  fully  he  may  have 
forsaken  them,  his  clinging  to  this  makes  him  an 
unrepentant,  an  unreformed,  a  sinful  man. 

53 


Repentance 

In  a  striking  passage  in  ^^Grace  Abounding," 
John  Bunyan  thus  describes  his  vision  of  the  en- 
trance to  the  way  of  life :  "But  forasmuch  as  the 
passage  was  wonderfully  narrow,  even  so  narrow 
thai  I  could  not  but  with  great  difficulty  enter 
in  thereat,  it  showed  me  that  none  could  enter 
into  life  but  those  that  were  in  downright  earnest, 
and  unless  also  they  left  that  wicked  world  behind 
them;  for  here  was  only  room  for  body  and  soul, 
but  not  for  body  and  soul  and  sin."  One  has  well 
said,  "There  are  no  little  sins;  there  are  no  little 
virtues;  there  are  no  minor  pieties;  the  character 
of  the  universe  is  one ;  it  is  equally  holy  at  every 
point;  he  who  breaks  one  law  injures  the  whole 
circle  of  duty,  and  proves  himself  to  be  capable  of 
breaking  out  of  that  circle  at  any  point  that  may 
suit  him  at  the  moment."  The  case  is  so  clear  that 
it  needs  no  argument. 

Does  some  man,  in  reading  this,  find  his  con- 
science smiting  him?  What  can  be  done  to  save 
such  men  ? — to  save  them  from  themselves  ?  What 
a  battle  is  this  struggle  against  sin !  It  is  a  los- 
ing battle  with  every  man  who  does  not,  in  deep- 
est, absolute  sincerity,  in  his  very  inmost  soul,  re- 


54 


Be^pentancG 

pudiate  all  sin,  and  utterly  cease  the  indulgence  of 
it  in  his  life. 

The  divine  requirement  is  (I.  Thes.  5:  32)  that 
the  Christian  "abstain  from  every  form  of  evil." 
Forms  of  evil  are  various,  and  not  always  easily 
detected,  but  generally  the  sincere,  conscientious 
man  can  see  where  clear  and  unmistakable  truth 
and  good  lie,  and  also  when  a  principle  or  course 
of  action  is  of  a  doubtful  kind.  From  such  he 
should  stand  aloof.  «• 

Why  should  not  the  man  who  has  entered  "the 
kingdom  of  heaven,"  and  sworn  allegiance  to 
Christ,  feel  himself  bound  by  the  most  sacred  ob- 
ligations to  be  always  a  thoroughly  loyal  subject? 
I  ask,  in  the  name  of  common  consistency  and  in 
behalf  of  the  sacred  cause  which  is  so  often  be- 
trayed by  those  who  do  not  "walk  worthily  of  the 
calling  wherewith  they  were  called,'^  why  every 
Christian  should  not  stand  true  and  be  active  in 
every-day  faithfulness  to  his  highest  ideals  of 
Christian  living? 


55 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Cardinal  Character  of  Eepentance. 

From  what  has  been  already  said  respecting  the 
essential  meaning  and  nature  of  repentance,  its 
cardinal  character  as  a  doctrine  of  religion  is  very 
evident;  but,  as  is  the  case  with  every  funda- 
mental truth,  so  in  the  case  of  this,  every  view  we 
take  of  it  adds  to  its  evidently  vital  character. 
While  already  no  little  scripture  has  been  quoted 
in  the  preceding  pages,  let  us  take  more  special 
note  of  the  prominent  setting-forth  of  this  doc- 
trine in  the  Book.  It  may  be  worth  while  here  to 
recall  that,  in  the  case  of  some  very  important  and 
well-defined  doctrines  of  theology,  their  becoming 
such  was  by  a  process  of  inference,  of  the  com- 
bining of  various  teachings  of  Scripture;  they 
were  built  up,  as  a  superstructure  of  different 
parts ;  or,  stated  under  another  figure,  they  were  a 
growth,  an  evolution. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  ages,  to  the  men  who 

56 


Repentance 

have  preceded  us,  for  much  of  the  rich  heritage 
of  Christian  doctrine  which,  without  our  toilsome 
research  and  thought,  is  ours  to-day.  But  respect- 
ing the  doctrine  of  repentance,  no  such  processes 
were  necessary ;  it  stood  forth  from  the  beginning 
on  every  page  of  Sacred  Writ  as  a  clearly  defined 
and  essential  feature  of  religion.  Repentance  is 
as  old  as  religion;  it  is  a  necessary  part  of  the 
religion  of  sinful  beings.  So,  while  the  repent- 
ance which  we  are  having  in  mind,  it  is  true, 
is  Christian  repentance,  it  is  not,  by  any  means,  a 
new  element  in  religion  and  the  worship  of  God, 
but  only  an  old  element,  an  old  act  of  the  human 
will  in  a  new  setting — repentance  of  a  higher  type, 
prompted  by  the  new  and  higher  motives  of  the 
gospel,  and  leading  to  correspondingly  higher  re- 
sults in  heart  and  life. 

The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  repentance,  set 
forth  both  in  precept  and  example.  One  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  instructive  passages  touching 
repentance  is  the  well-known  paragraph  in  Solo- 
mon's prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple, 
I.  Kings  8 :  46-52,  in  which  Solomon  asks,  in  case 
the  people  sin,  and  are  punished  with  captivity: 
"If  they  shall  bethink  themselves  in  the  land 

57 


Repentance 

whither  they  are  carried  captive  and  turn  again 
,  .  .  saying,  We  have  sinned,  and  have  done 
perversely,  ...  if  they  return  unto  thee  with 
all  their  heart  and  with  all  their  soul  .  .  . 
and  pray  unto  thee,  .  .  .  then  hear  thou  their 
prayer  and  their  supplication  in  heaven  thy  dwell- 
ing place  .  .  .  and  forgive  thy  people  who 
have  sinned  against  thee."  Such  a  piece  of  na- 
tional literature  as  this  not  only  expressed  the  al- 
ready crystallized  belief  and  practice  of  God's 
chosen  people,  but  also  stood  as  an  authoritative 
article  of  faith  which  molded  religious  thought 
for  all  the  coming  generations.  And  this  we  see 
to  have  been  the  case,  for  the  Old  Testament  form 
of  expressing  repentance, — and  one  than  which  no 
other  more  expressive  can  ever  be  found, — "Turn, 
ye,  turn  ye,"  is  found  in  every  book.  N'ote  a  few 
passages :  "Turn  you  at  my  reproof"  (Prov.  1 :  23) . 
"Jehovah  testified  unto  Israel,  and  unto  Judah, 
by  every  prophet,  and  every  seer,  saying,  Turn  ye 
from  your  evil  ways,  and  keep  my  commandments 
and  my  statutes"  (II.  Kings  17: 13).  "Hear  ye 
the  word  of  Jehovah,  all  ye  of  Judah,  that  enter 
in  at  these  gates  to  worship  Jehovah.  Thus  saith 
Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  Amend  your 

58 


Repentance 

ways  and  your  doings,  and  I  will  cause  you  to 
dwell  in  this  place"  (Jer.  7:  3,  3).  What  a  beau- 
tiful expression  of  repentance  is  this  in  Lamenta- 
tions 3 :  40,  41 : 

"Let  us  search  and  try  our 
ways,  and  turn  again  to  Je- 
hovah. 
Let  us  lift  up  our  heart  with 
our  hands  unto  God  in  the 
heavens." 

"Return  ye,  and  turn  yourselves  from  all  your 
transgressions ;  so  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin. 
Cast  away  from  you  all  your  transgressions 
wherein  ye  have  transgressed;  and  make  you  a 
new  heart  and  a  new  spirit:  for  why  will  ye  die, 
0  house  of  Israel?"  (Ezek.  18:30,  31).  "Yet 
even  now,  saith  Jehovah,  turn  ye  unto  me  with 
all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and  with  weep- 
ing, and  with  mourning:  and  rend  your  heart, 
and  not  your  garments,  and  turn  unto  Jehovah, 
your  God;  for  he  is  gracious  and  merciful,  slow 
to  anger,  and  abundant  in  loving  kindness"  (Joel 
2:  12,  13).  Says  Isaiah,  the  "evangelical 
prophet,"  chapter  fifty-five,  seventh  verse,  "Let  the 
vricked  forsake  his  way  and  the  unrighteous  man 

59 


Bcpentance 

his  thoughts;  and  let  him  return  unto  Jehovah, 
and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him ;  and  to  our  God, 
for  he  will  abundantly  pardon/'  These  Old  Tes- 
tament scriptures  make  good  texts  for  preachers 
and  splendid  instruction  for  all  men,  to-day. 

Old  Testament  history  is  made  illustrious,  as  a 
biography,  by  its  recitals  of  the  repentance  of  its 
great  characters.  Says  Job,  chapter  forty-two, 
sixth  verse,  "I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust 
and  ashes."  King  Jehoshaphat  and  other  kings 
called  the  nation  to  repentance.  The  Fifty-first 
and  Thirty-second  Psalms,  written,  as  is  gener- 
ally agreed,  by  David,  are  the  finest  and  most  beau- 
tiful passages  setting  forth  repentance  and  for- 
giveness in  all  literature.  They  are  understood 
to  be  the  expression  of  David's  personal  experi- 
ence. The  former  is  well  given,  by  the  American 
Revision  Committee's  edition  of  the  Revised  Ver- 
sion, the  heading,  "A  Contrite  Sinner's  Prayer  for 
Pardon,"  and  the  latter  the  title,  "Blessedness  of 
Forgiveness  and  of  Trust  in  God."  Turn,  reader, 
to  these  matchless  paragraphs. 

But  the  repentance  of  the  old  dispensation  may 
be  said  to  have  been  incidental;  that  is,  it  comes 
to  the  front  upon  occasion.     When  the  nation  or 

60 


Repentance 

a  city  or  an  individual  has  fallen  into  special  sin, 
then,  through  some  prophet  or  priest  or  ruler,  is 
heard  the  command  of  God  to  repent,  the  call  to 
turn  from  the  sin  in  confession  and  reformation, 
and  seek  forgiveness.  Under  the  gospel  dispensa- 
tion, we  have  a  new  and  very  different  order  of 
things — a  new  viewpoint,  from  which  the  whole 
question  of  religion  is  to  be  understood.  Judaism 
and  Christianity  are  two  different  conceptions. 
For  instance,  in  extent,  the  one  was  tribal — for 
the  Jew;  the  other  is  universal — for  man.  Juda- 
ism was  a  depository  of  the  divine  truth  of  its 
day,  where  the  only  world-thought  was  the  defense 
and  preservation  of  religion  against  the  world. 
Christianity  is  a  new  divine  truth,  proclaimed  and 
organized  for  the  salvation,  for  the  religious  con- 
quest of  the  world. 

But  in  spirit  and  aim  they  are  still  more  di- 
verse. "The  law  was  given  through  Moses ;  grace 
and  truth  came  through  Jesus  Christ"  (John  1: 
17).  Here  is  a  vast  leap — upward,  from  law  to 
grace,  from  "the  ministration  of  condemnation" 
to  "the  ministration  of  righteousness,"  from  the 
old  to  the  new — the  "new  covenant;  not  of  the 
letter,  but  of  the  spirit;  for  the  letter  killeth 

61 


Repentance 

but  the  spirit  giveth  life"  (II.  Cor.  3).  The 
theater  of  religion  is  transferred  from  tables  of 
law  and  the  outward  observance  of  their  com- 
mands and  prohibitions,  to  the  hearts  of  men,  the 
aim  being  the  transforming  of  their  inner  life  and 
their  obeying  with  "all  the  heart"  the  new  law  of 
love  written  there.  Religion  is  now  not  an  "obedi- 
ence/' but  a  "life."  So  the  thought  is  not  any 
more  one  of  conformity  of  acts  to  a  code  of  "thou 
shalts"  and  "thou  shalt  nots/'  but  of  the  heart  re- 
lation of  a  man  to  God,  his  creator  and  sovereign, 
of  a  son  to  his  father. 

I  have  said  that  in  the  old  dispensation  repent- 
ance was  incidental — on  occasion;  that  that  occa- 
sion was  some  special  act  of  legal  transgression; 
there  had  been  sin,  and  hence  must  be  repentance. 
In  the  new  dispensation,  there  is  no  abrogation  of 
the  rule  that  there  must  be  an  occasion  in  order 
to  a  call  to  repentance,  but  the  occasion  here  is  a 
very  different  one.  The  occasion  is  not  particu- 
lar,— in  an  individual's  act, — but  universal — in  a 
race's  attitude.  The  core  of  the  matter,  the  phi- 
losophy of  it,  is  considered;  at  the  root,  human 
action  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  question  of  atti- 
tude. 


Repenta}ice 

And  now,  what  is  the  attitude  of  the  human 
race  toward  God?  The  old  evangelical  seer, 
Isaiah,  had  it  in  dim  outline,  "All  we  like  sheep 
have  gone  astray."  As  Christ  put  it,  we  are  prodi- 
gals; we  have  deserted  our  father's  house,  have 
gone  off  in  virtual  rebellion  to  set  up  outside  of 
his  dominion  for  ourselves.  So  we  are  sinners, 
all;  we  are  all  under  a  common  condemnation. 
"For  all  have  sinned,  and  fall  short  of  the  glory 
of  God,"  says  Paul.  (Rom.  3:23.)  I  am  not 
now  speaking  of  the  race  as  a  race  only,  but  of 
each  of  us  as  individual  members  of  it.  We  are 
all  sinners,  individually,  both  by  attitude  and  by 
act,  and  we  know  it.  Indeed,  our  sense  of  sin  is 
so  deep  that  we  feel  it  to  be  more  than  an  attitude 
— a  condition.  There  is  no  other  human  experi- 
ence more  universal  and  more  distinct  than  the 
consciousness  of  the  three  deadly  facts,  as  Henry 
Drummond  calls  them,  of  the  power  and  stain  and 
guilt  of  sin. 

Here,  now,  enters  the  gospel,  with  its  plan  to 
purify  men  and  get  them  back  to  their  allegiance 
and  peace  with  God.  It  is  a  "gospel  for  a  world 
of  sin."  And  what,  in  the  very  nature  and  the 
actual  necessity  of  the  case,  would  be  its  first  and 

63 


Bepetitance 

its  chief  request  and  requirement?  Eepent,  re- 
pent, return,  my  son,  in  contrition  and  confession, 
and  I  will  receive  you.  It  needs  no  argument  to 
show  that  a  scheme  for  the  bringing  of  a  race  of 
rebellious  sinners  to  genuine  change  of  attitude 
toward  God  must  include  those  states  of  heart 
which  constitute  evangelical  repentance.  So,  when 
in  the  fullness  of  time  the  spiritual  reformation 
of  the  world  and  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom 
of  righteousness  were  inaugurated,  the  key-note  of 
the  divine  requirement  proclaimed  to  men  was, 
repentance. 

Let  us  notice  a  few  striking  passages  of  scrip- 
ture. Of  the  herald  of  the  new  kingdom  and  its 
King,  it  is  written,  in  Matthew  3  :  "In  those  days 
eometh  John  the  Baptist,  preaching  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judaea,  saying,  Eepent  ye;  for  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  at  hand.  .  .  .  And  they 
were  baptized  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan,  confess- 
ing their  sins.  .  .  .  Bring  forth  therefore 
fruit  worthy  of  repentance.  ...  I  indeed 
baptize  you  in  water  unto  repentance :  but  he  that 
Cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I.  .  .  .  He 
shall  baptize  you  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  in  fire." 
In  Mark  1 :  14,  15,  is  contained  the  following  dec- 

64 


Repentance 

laration:  "I^ow  after  John  was  delivered  up, 
Jesus  came  into  Galilee,  preaching  the  gospel  of 
God,  and  saying.  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand:  repent  ye,  and  be- 
lieve in  the  gospel."  In  this  passage  we  have,  evi- 
dently, the  substance  of  our  Saviour's  preaching; 
and  it  was  clearly  the  substance  of  the  preaching 
of  The  Twelve,  who  were  his  especially  instructed 
under-preachers.  In  Mark  6,  where  we  have  the 
account  of  their  first  sending  forth  "by  two  and 
two,"  in  verse  twelve  it  is  said,  "And  they  went 
out,  and  preached  that  men  should  repent."  This 
is  all  that  is  said  concerning  their  preaching;  it 
was  evidently  all  that  need  be  said. 

In  Luke  5 :  32,  Christ  declares  the  end  of  his 
coming,  the  object  of  his  labors,  to  be  to  "call  sin- 
ners to  repentance."  When,  therefore,  men  re- 
pent, the  purpose  of  Christ's  mission  is  fulfilled. 
In  Matthew  11 :  20,  this  record  of  Christ's  thought 
and  attitude  is  made,  "Then  began  he  to  upbraid 
the  cities  wherein  most  of  his  mighty  works  were 
done,  because  they  repented  not."  He  declares 
that  if  the  mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Tyre 
and  Sidon  which  were  done  in  them,  "they  would 
have  repented  long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes." 

5  65 


Repentance 

We  recall  the  conversation  given  in  Lnke  13 ;  1-5, 
which  occurred  between  Christ  and  certain  peo- 
ple of  the  crowd,  in  which  he  twice  declared,  "Ex- 
cept ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish.'^  No 
skilled  exegete  is  needed  to  see  what  was  back  of 
the  following  words,  expressing  both  wounding 
disappointment  and  burning  condemnatory  judg- 
ment, "The  men  of  Nineveh  shall  stand  up  in  the 
judgment  with  this  generation,  and  shall  condemn 
it:  for  they  repented  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah; 
and  behold,  a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here"  (Matt. 
13:41).  Christ  declares  that  the  joys  of  heaven 
are  increased  by  the  repentance  of  sinful  men,  "I 
say  unto  you,  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the 
angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth." 

In  his  last  teaching  given  the  apostles  respect- 
ing the  meaning  of  his  mission  to  earth,  his  death 
and  resurrection,  as  recorded  by  Luke,  chapter  24 : 
46,  47,  Christ  said :  "Thus  it  is  written,  that  the 
Christ  should  suffer,  and  rise  again  from  the  dead 
the  third  day;  and  that  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name  unto  all 
the  nations,  beginning  from  Jerusalem."  So,  was 
repentance  the  first  note  sounded  by  Christ  in  his 
preaching,  the  burden  of  all  his  ministr}^,  and  the 


Repentance 

theme  and  message  put  into  the  heart  and  upon 
the  tongue  of  his  apostles  to  be  preached  "unto 
all  nations."  True  to  their  instructions  as  the 
ambassadors  of  Christ  and  heralds  of  his  gospel, 
they  went  forth  calling  all  men  to  repentance.  In 
Acts  2,  where  we  have  the  account  of  the  first  gos- 
pel sermon,  by  Peter,  we  read  that,  to  the  con- 
victed multitude  who  asked  what  they  should  do, 
Peter  answered,  "Kepent  ye,  and  be  baptized  every 
one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  the 
remission  of  your  sins."  Again  to  the  throng, 
*"^Eepent  ye  therefore,  and  turn  again,  that  your 
sins  may  be  blotted  out"  (Acts  3:19).  Again, 
before  the  council  (Acts  5:  31),  Peter  declared  of 
Christ,  "Him  did  God  exalt,  with  his  right  hand 
to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give  repentance 
to  Israel  and  remission  of  sins."  In  Acts  11 :  18, 
it  is  said,  after  Peter  recounts  to  the  church  at 
Jerusalem  the  saving  results  of  his  preaching  in 
the  home  of  Cornelius,  that  the  company  "glori- 
fied God,  saying,  Then  to  the  Gentiles  also  hath 
God  granted  repentance  unto  life." 

When  we  turn  to  the  career  of  the  great  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles,  we  find  him  proclaiming  one  mes- 
sage everywhere.    In  the  Areopagus  at  Athens,  the 

67 


Repentance 

seat  of  learning  of  the  Gentile  world,  it  is,  "God 
commandetli  men  that  they  should  all  everywhere 
repent"  (Acts  17:30).  According  to  his  own 
^statement  (Acts  20:  21),  his  theme  had  been  for 
the  3^ears  in  Asia  Minor,  "Eepentance  toward  God 
and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  When 
making  his  defense  before  King  Agrippa  (Acts 
26: 19,  20),  in  covering  his  career  as  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  from  his  first  appointment  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  that  day,  it  was  expressed  thus,  "Where- 
upon, 0  King  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  unto 
the  heavenly  vision:  but  declared  to  them  of  Da- 
mascus first,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  throughout 
all  the  country  of  Judaea,  and  also  to  the  Gentiles, 
that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  doing 
works  worthy  of  repentance."  This  is  Paul's  own 
synopsis  of  his  world-wide  preaching. 

Evidently,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  as  they  set  forth  the  plan  and 
the  proclamation  of  the  spiritual  regeneration  of 
mankind,  repentance  is  the  one  great  end  sought 
to  be  brought  about.  It  is,  at  the  same  time,  the 
doorway  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  that  king- 
dom itself  set  up  in  the  heart  of  man.  For  the  ac- 
complishing of  this  are  brought  to  bear  upon  men 

6S 


Repentance 

the  great  truths  of  religion  touching  God  and  man 
— God's  justice  and  his  mercy,  his  hatred  of  sin 
and  compassion  for  the  sinner,  pardon  as  provided 
in  Christ ;  man's  sin,  with  its  slavery  and  guilt  and 
ruin,  his  freedom  to  choose  righteousness  and 
peace ;  and  to  make  these  effective  are  the  awaken- 
ing influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  has  been 
sent  to  "convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin  and 
of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment." 

To  proclaim  and  enforce  all  this  awakening  and 
saving  truth,  Christ,  the  great  head  and  leader 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  has  for  sixty  genera- 
tions had  his  appointed  ambassadors.  They  are 
to-day  calling  men  everywhere  to  "repentance 
toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  This  is  the  awakening  and  saving  sum- 
mons that  is  destined  to  travel  the  world  around, 
to  be  carried  on  its  way  by  heralds  of  each  suc- 
ceeding generation,  penetrating  the  distant  and 
densest  masses  of  "darkest"  barbarous  tribes,  until 
"unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth"  it  has  been 
carried,  to  "make  disciples  of  all  the  nations." 
AVould  that  the  call  might  be  with  greater  unction 
and  "power  from  on  high,"  and  with  transform- 
ing influence  upon  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men. 

69 


CHAPTER  y. 
Foes  of  Eepen-tance. 

It  has  been  seen  that  true  repentance  arises 
from  a  conviction  of  having  offended  God.  Its 
necessary  background  is  a  settled,  intelligent  be- 
lief in  the  being  and  character  of  God,  his  sover- 
eignty, his  holiness,  his  justice,  his  mercy.  It  is 
evident,  hence,  that  any  and  all  forms  of  skepti- 
cism which  turn  down  or  shade  or  obliterate  be- 
lief in  the  existence  of  a  personal,  immanent  God 
are  foes  to  repentance  and  to  all  religion.  There 
is  no  little  such  atheistic  thought  entertained 
among  the  people  of  Christendom. 

Some  men  would  fain  substitute  a  law  of  nature 
for  the  living  God.  As  says  Dr.  Josiah  Strong, 
"The  reign  of  law  has  been  substituted  for  the 
reign  of  God.''  Such  persons  conceive  of  an  un- 
thinking, omnipotent  principle,  like  gravitation; 
they  think  of  a  power  like  the  mighty  sea,  carrying 
a  vessel  upon  its  crest  or  sinking  it  to  its  bottom 

70 


Repentance 

with  equal  indifference;  but  a  merely  mechanical 
omnipotence  is  not  God.  The  human  soul  can 
have  no  communication  with  such  an  abstraction. 
No  man  could  feel  accountable  to  such  a  panthe- 
istic essence.  Xo  sinner  in  his  senses  would  sup- 
pose himself  offending  this  great  "unknowable'^  by 
not  living  a  life  of  prayer  and  uprightness.  Ag- 
nosticism says,  "If  there  is  a  God,  we  do  not  know 
him." 

The  clear  fact  is,  that,  from  the  standpoint  of 
agnosticism,  religion  is  unreasonable,  impossible. 
There  is  no  ruler  of  the  universe  to  obey,  no  law- 
giver to  offend,  no  supreme  being  to  worship.  We 
may  see  why  it  is  that  in  this  age  of  agnostic  tend- 
ency of  thought  among  many  classes,  there  is  a 
corresponding  obliterating  of  the  distinctions  of 
right  and  wrong,  sin  and  holiness,  and  an  accom- 
panying decay  of  conscience.  With  persons  of 
such  pantheistic  conceptions,  repentance  has  no 
place  and  a  life  of  piety  no  prompting  cause.  Ee- 
ligion  cannot  exist  without  a  personal  God,  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Bible,  upon  his  throne.  The  latent 
skepticism  of  these  times  is  Christianity's  most 
formidable  foe.     It  is  the  parent,  also,  of  what 


71 


Repentance 

Dr.  G.  Campbell  Morgan  calls  "the  new  atheism 
of  indifference." 

It  has  been  agreed  that  a  sense  of  personal  un- 
worthiness,  sin,  and  gnilt,  is  a  prime  element  in 
repentance.  So  a  false  estimate  of  man,  morally, 
an  underestimate  of  human  depravity  and  sin,  and 
an  overestimate  of  human  virtues,  would  lessen 
the  effect  of  the  gospel  call  to  repentance.  It 
scarcely  need  be  said  that  there  is  no  little  tend- 
ency nowadays  to  estimate  unregenerated  men  as 
standing  upon  a  higher  moral  plane  than  they 
occupy;  many  flatter  themselves  that  they  and 
their  kind  do  not  need  to  repent.  As  Van  Ooster- 
zee  says,  "There  is  a  practical  Pelagianism,  which 
considers  repentance  unnecessary,  except  for  some 
monstrous  sinners."  Sin  is  apologized  for,  re- 
duced to  a  "mistake" — no  very  bad  thing  in  "re- 
spectable people,"  such  as  are  we.  Eespectability 
is  made  to  "cover  a  multitude  of  sins" ;  but  James 
tells  us,  chapter  5 :  20,  that  it  is  the  converting  of 
a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  that  covers  sins. 
Many  have  abandoned  the  old  process.  The  old 
sense  of  sin  seems  with  many  to  be  a  "vanishing 
quantity."  Even  with  some  religious  writers,  it 
has   lost   its   heinousness.     Mr.    Gladstone   says, 

72 


Uepoitance 

^^They  appear  to  have  a  very  low  estimate  both  of 
the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  sin ;  of  its  amount, 
spread  like  a  deluge  over  the  world,  and  of  the 
subtlety,  intensity,  and  virulence  of  its  nature." 

Evidently,  in  proportion  as  this  phase  of 
thought  touching  human  nature  prevails,  in  like 
measure  will  the  preaching  of  repentance  fall  upon 
unimpressed  minds  and  hearts.  I  do  not,  I  need 
not,  with  those  who  are  really  candid  with  them- 
selves, and  believe  the  Scriptures,  and  have  a  true 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  cross,  argue  the 
radical  and  dangerous  error  of  all  this  self -flattery, 
this  cant  and  twaddle  about  the  newly-discovered 
inherent  goodness  in  human  nature.  I  only  call 
attention  to  its  being  a  great  neutralizer  of  the 
message  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  church  to  a  sinful 
world. 

Born  of  this  error  is  another,  that  of  the  cul- 
turists.  Having  such  good  material  with  which  to 
begin  the  making  of  a  true  man,  all  that  is  needed 
is  culture.  Prune  down  the  bad  and  cultivate 
the  good,  and  we  shall  have  the  strength  and  sym- 
metry of  noble,  virtuous  character ;  no  call  for  the 
ingrafting  of  a  new  scion.  Such  is  the  theory  of 
so-called  "culturism."    ISTow,  we  all  believe  in  cul- 

73 


Repentance 

ture;  we  esteem  it,  we  promote  it,  we  seek  it,  we 
are  enriched  by  it ;  but  it  has  its  own  field,  it  does 
only  its  own  part  in  the  elevation  and  ennobling 
of  humanity.  But  the  culturists  of  our  day  of 
whom  I  am  speaking  are  those  who  are  "its  ex- 
clusive advocates,  who  recommend  it  as  the  one 
panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  humanity,  for  its  effect 
in  cultivating  the  whole  man." 

While  the  error  of  this  position,  it  would  seem, 
could  be  seen  upon  even  a  little  serious  thought 
and  candid  observation,  yet  we  are,  many  of  us, 
so  blinded  by  prejudice  that  we  often  do  not  see 
the  things  which  are  clear  enough.  To-day  many 
people  worship  the  idol  that  is  called  "culture." 
Above  the  cross,  above  the  Christ,  is  placed  this 
modern  fetish,  culture.  To  preach  to  an  assembly 
of  typical  advocates  of  "Kultya"  an  old-time  gos- 
pel sermon  from  the  life-time  text  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand;  re- 
pent ye,  and  believe  in  the  gospel,"  would  be  worse 
than  wasting  sweetness  on  the  desert  air — it  would 
be  the  offering  of  a  gross  insult. 

Yes,  the  gospel  of  repentance  has  hard  rowing 
against  the  current  of  modern  culture.  It  is  too 
insinuating,  too  abrupt,  too  gross  a  system  of  hu- 

74 


Bepentance 

man  betterment.  But,  mark,  the  gospel  stripped 
of  its  two-edged,  piercing  sword,  the  gospel  with 
its  teeth  pulled,  the  gospel  robed  in  the  garments 
of  culture,  is  all  right.  Have  we  two  gospels  from 
American  pulpits  to-day,  the  gospel  of  repentance 
and  the  gospel  of  culture  ? 

A  false  conception  of  the  sovereignty  and  "de- 
crees" of  God,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  has  been  a 
hindrance  to  many  men  in  the  field  of  their  own 
action  in  the  matter  of  religion.  It  may  have  led 
to  discouragement  in  one  case,  to  delay  in  another, 
or  in  another  to  disgust  with  the  whole  beclouded 
matter.  Now,  as  one  has  suggested,  it  is  not  de- 
crees against  which  the  moral  sense  protests,  but 
against  a  certain  philosophy  of  decrees,  as  when 
Augustine  ties  down  the  grace  of  God  to  the  sac- 
raments, or  Calvin  limits  it  by  His  inscrutable, 
sovereign  will ;  as  when  we  are  told  that  God  must 
be  just,  but  need  not  be  merciful ;  that  law  is  un- 
bounded, but  grace  limited;  that  God  has  an  in- 
finite love  for  all,  but  a  special  love  for  the  elect. 
Xo,  we  can  brook  no  such  "class  legislation"  in 
God's  plan  of  salvation,  and  there  is  none.  "God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons";  he  is  indifferent  to 
none,  he  is  impartial  to  all.    When  the  fogs  of  the 

75 


Repentance 

medigeval  view  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  shall 
have  more  fully  cleared  away,  men  will  see  more 
clearly  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  immediate 
repentance  in  the  name  of  Him  who,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  tasted  death  for  every  man. 

If  other  foes  of  repentance  were  named,  they 
would  all  come  under  the  general  head  of  rivals, 
such  things,  to  use  a  very  generic  term,  as,  when 
in  action,  in  any  way  make  less  prominent  and 
necessary  the  person's  own  individual  heart-act 
in  his  salvation.  Among  such  could  be  named 
formalism,  ritualism,  hierarchism,  Phariseeism. 
Each  is  an  all  too  prominent  influence  in  the  re- 
ligious life  of  to-day.  Each  is  a  rival  of  the  evan- 
gelical idea  and  spirit  of  the  gospel. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  all  the  foes  named  and  un- 
named of  the  great  doctrine  and  fact  of  repent- 
ance, it  will  still,  and  it  will  ever  be  the  key-note 
and  the  fruitage  of  the  gospel. 


76 


CHAPTER  YI. 
Closi^^C4  Thoughts. 

In  the  discussion  of  this  theme,  numerous  vital 
things  have  been  understood  as  basal.  First,  and 
most  vital,  is  the  atonement,  ever  to  be  held  as  the 
great  trunk  doctrine  of  Christianity,  and  nothing 
further  than  this  need  here  be  said.  Another  is 
the  divine  part,  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  work  of  repentance. 

It  is  understood  by  Scripture,  and  is  a  matter 
of  experience,  that  the  awakening  and  quickening 
influence  of  the  Spirit  is  needed  to  bring  about 
evangelical  repentance.  The  divine  Spirit — the 
executive  of  the  Godhead — sends  the  gospel  mes- 
sage home  to  the  hearts,  very  often  the  unwilling 
hearts  of  men,  and  makes  it  effectual ;  and  also  in 
the  effectual  repentance  of  the  sinner  is  recognized 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit's  regenerating  power. 

So,  while  the  act  of  repentance  is  that  of  the 
man's  own  free  and  regal  choice,  it  is  like  the  act 

77 


Repentance 

of  the  will  m  every  other  field — a  determination 
made  after  influences  have  been  brought  to  bear 
which  have  been  fully  weighed.  In  all  lines  of 
choice  men  wait  for  light,  and  here  the  mind  and 
heart  are  enlightened  by  that  light  "which  lighteth 
every  man  coming  into  the  world." 

It  is  hoped  that  the  scriptural  view  of  the  uni- 
versal necessity  of  repentance  in  order  to  salvation 
will  have  been  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  all. 
Its  application  is  coextensive  with  the  family  of 
man,  reaching  to  all  lands  and  being  obligatory 
upon  all  classes,  high  and  low,  great  and  small, 
the  best  and  the  basest;  no  dignity  or  rank,  no 
ignorance  or  learning  exempts  men  from  the  im- 
perative command  of  God  to  repent. 

It  is  not  so  much  to  be  feared  that  men  will 
deny  the  theory  of  it,  as  that  they  may  slight  or 
warp  the  practice  of  it.  And  what  I  wish  to  warn 
against  is  the  danger  that  classes  and  kinds  of 
people  may  outline  for  themselves  classes  and 
kinds  of  repentance.  There  is  only  one  kind  of 
repentance.  One  type  of  disease  is  in  the  system 
of  us  all,  and  for  it  there  is  but  one  remedy.  The 
pill  is  strong  and  bitter  and  without  sugar-coat- 
ing.   All  classes  must  take  it,  or  perish. 

78 


Repentance 

The  call  in  every  case  is  to  repentance  immedi- 
ate. This  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  very  thought ; 
to  propose  a  deferred  repentance  would  be  the 
clear  granting  of  a  license  to  sin.  Every  scripture 
calling  us  to  repentance  has  its  "now"  or  its  "to- 
day/' either  expressed  or  implied.  The  folly,  un- 
worthiness,  and  danger  of  postponing  repentance 
should  lead  every  man,  like  the  prodigal,  to  arise 
and  go  to  God  at  once.  Excuses  and  supposed 
difficulties,  want  of  feeling,  distraction  by  doubts, 
sense  of  unworthiness,  unfavorable  moral  sur- 
roundings, press  of  business,  imperfections  of  pro- 
fessing Christians,  the  buying  and  going  to  see 
a  field,  the  buying  and  going  to  prove  five  yoke  of 
oxen,  or  the  marrying  of  a  wife, — ^yes,  excuses  as 
numerous  and  various  as  the  number  and  sinful 
ingenuity  of  those  inventing  them,  will  arise  as 
if  by  spontaneity  in  the  mind ;  but  the  sincere  man 
will  brush  them  aside,  heed  the  voice  of  God,  and 
be  true  to  his  own  conscience  and  regardful  of  his 
highest  interest.  "Wherefore  even  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  saith.  To-day  if  ye  shall  hear  his  voice, 
harden  not  your  hearts"  (Heb.  3:7).  There  is 
much  meaning  in  this  passage. 

The  heart-hardening  of  a  man  is  a  dreadful 

79 


Repentance 

piece  of  suicide.  This  is  what  multitudes  who 
have  heard,  and  are  now  hearing  the  voice  of  God 
are  doing.  There  are  fifteen  millions  of  such  peo- 
ple, unrepentant  youth  and  adults,  in  this  gospel- 
favored  land  to-day.  It  is  a  sad  and  fearful  fact, 
yet  millions  of  them  intend  to  repent,  expect  to 
quit  their  life  of  indifference  and  sin,  seek  and 
obtain  pardon,  and  live  in  the  favor  of  God,  and 
die  in  hope  of  heaven.  What  presumption,  what 
stupid  folly,  aye,  what  Heaven-daring  sin !  What 
can  be  done  to  awaken  these  people  before  they 
reach  that  fearful  moral  state  portrayed  by  Christ 
in  Matthew  13 :  12-15,  where,  by  long  disregarding 
the  light  and  truth,  "seeing  they  see  not  and  hear- 
ing they  hear  not,  neither  do  they  understand," — 
awaken  them  before  it  is  too  late  ?  We  need  some 
John  the  Baptist,  some  Tauler  or  Wesley  or  Otter- 
bein  or  Finney,  yes,  ten  thousand  such,  to  stand 
forth  proclaiming  the  gospel  of  repentance  in  notes 
that  shall  thrill  the  land  with  a  trumpet  call. 

Thus  does  the  gospel  place  its  great  truths, 
touching  God  and  man,  before  the  world  and 
make  its  appeal  to  the  intellect  and  the  heart  of 
the  race.  I  say,  it  appeals  to  the  reason  of 
men.  ^  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  the  phi- 

80 


Repentance 

losophy  of  religion,  or  its  relation  to  the  science  of 
the  day.  While  religion  is  neither  science  nor  phi- 
losophy, it  has  some  things  which  are  within  the 
circle  of  each.  True  faith  and  true  reason  never 
have  been  in  conflict ;  science  and  Christianity  are 
in  accord.  That  among  the  unphilosophical  vo- 
taries of  science  there  has  been  no  little  skepticism 
is  matter  of  common  knowledge.  The  intense 
empiricism  of  the  times  has  carried  many  off  their 
feet,  and  the  multitude  with  the  leaders,  so  that 
the  age  just  past  has  been  dominated  by  the  sensu- 
ous. The  things  of  the  supersensuous  world  have 
been  doubted.  The  horizon  has  been  largely 
bounded  by  that  which  lies  within  reach  of  the 
senses.  But  the  age  of  this  narrow,  unphilosoph- 
ical view  of  life  is  evidently  passing,  and  we  have 
already  entered,  let  us  hope,  upon  a  new  era  of 
rational  faith. 

Says  Henry  Van  Dyke,  in  his  book,  "The  Gospel 
for  a  World  of  Sin":  "There  is  a  renaissance 
of  religion.  Spiritual  instincts  and  cravings  as- 
sert themselves  and  demand  their  rights.  The 
loftier  aspirations  and  larger  hopes  of  mankind 
are  leading  the  new  generation  forward  into  the 
twentieth  century  as  men  who  advance  to  a  noble 

6  81 


Repentance 

conflict  and  a  glorious  triumph,  under  the  cap- 
taincy of  the  Christ  that  was  and  is  to  be.  The 
educated  youth  of  to-day  are  turning  with  a 
mighty,  world-wide  movement  toward  the  banner 
of  a  militant,  expectant,  imperial  Christianity. 
The  discoveries  of  science,  once  deemed  hostile 
and  threatening  to  religion,  are  in  process  of  swift 
transformation  into  the  materials  of  a  new  de- 
fense of  the  faith.  The  achievements  of  commerce 
and  social  organization  have  made  new  and  broad 
highways  around  the  world  for  the  onward  march 
of  the  believing  host.  Already  we  can  discern  the 
brightness  of  another  great  age  of  faith." 

The  great  strength  of  our  gospel  is,  that  it  does 
meet  the  spiritual  need  of  every  man  who,  with  all 
his  heart  embraces  it.  We,  its  votaries,  may  each 
say,  and  with  especial  emphasis  in  this  age  of  its 
manifest  triumphs,  as  did  Paul,  when  carrying  it, 
in  its  infancy,  to  the  world's  proud  heathen  center, 
"I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel:  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth'^  (Rom.  1 :  16).  As  it  was  in  Paul's  day, 
so  now,  "Christ  crucified"  is  to  some  "a  stumbling- 
block,"  and  to  others  "foolishness" ;  but,  also,  just 
as   then,    so   now,   to   such   as   accept   it,    it   is 

82 


Repentance 

^•'tlie  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God'^ 
(I.  Cor.  1). 

Why,  I  ask,  should  not  we  sinful  men,  all,  with 
docile  mind  and  open  heart,  hear  and  heed  God's 
proffer  of  help  and  pardon?  It  may  not,  it  does 
not,  suit  the  fancy  of  us  all,  but  that  is  not  against 
it,  but  against  us;  and  it  is  our  part  to  cease  ob- 
jecting and  comply.  The  divine  purpose  of  grace 
has  been  perfected  and  put  in  operation,  and  is 
not  to  be  bent  aside  for  us,  but  we  are  asked  to 
bend  before  it.  The  great  facts  and  requirements 
and  blessings  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  have  been 
determined  and  provided,  and  the  proclamation  of 
them  has  been  made.  They  are  a  great  and  com- 
plete system,  as  complete  as  the  system  of  nature,, 
and  as  unalterable.  The  invitation  is  made  to  men 
to  accept  them,  to  their  salvation.  Light  is  come 
into  the  world,  and  men  are  asked  to  turn  from 
darkness  and  walk  in  the  light — to  repent.  The 
appeal  is  made  to  our  highest  reason  and  our  high- 
est conscience,  enforced  by  considerations  of  our 
highest  good. 

The  great  folly  and  sin  of  Christ's  day  was,  as 
he  said,  that  the  light  had  come  into  the  world, 
and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  the  light. 

83 


Eepentance 

(John  3: 19.)  This  is  the  great  sin  of  any  age; 
it  is  the  towering  sin  of  our  age.  Its  results  on 
moral  and  spiritual  life  are  baneful,  suicidal.  To 
turn  from  revealed  light  and  persist  in  discovered 
error  is  like  fighting  against  the  stars  in  their 
courses. 

Sin  is  unforgivable  and  irremediable  when  per- 
sisted in  as  sin ;  but  the  proposition  and  the  prom- 
ise of  the  gospel  is  that  sin  shall  no  longer  be  im- 
puted to  a  man  when,  with  penitence  of  heart  and 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  he  turns  from  it  to  right- 
eousness. Nor  shall  it  any  longer  have  dominion 
over  him,  for  the  divine  Liberator  has  broken  its 
power  and  set  him  free.  (Luke  4: 18,  19;  John 
8 :  36.)  I  repeat,  there  could  not  be  made  to  the 
world  of  needy,  sinful  men  a  more  reasonable,  self- 
commending  proposition  than  the  gospel's  gracious 
high  appeal. 


84 


Date  Due 


